Hedgies could leave Britain

LONDON’S hedge fund managers have told the Treasury that they will be forced to quit the UK unless proposed European legislation is altered significantly.

Hedge fund managers gathered en masse at the Treasury earlier this week to coordinate the fight back against the plans to crack down on the alternative investment industry.

According to a source who was at the meeting, around 85 per cent of London’s hedge fund industry was represented, highlighting the growing concern over the impact of the draft law.

The Treasury told those in attendance – who included Marshall Wace’s Ian Wace, Man Group chairman Jon Aisbitt and Odey chief executive David Stewart – that it would go through the draft legislation line by line in an attempt to get 90 per cent of it altered.

One source close to the negotiations said that while City minister Lord Myners was working hard on behalf of the industry, other senior staff at the Treasury were distracted by the question of who would be the next chancellor.

The European Commission is proposing a new disclosure regime, minimum capital requirements and limits on leverage for hedge funds, private equity houses and other non-UCITS funds managing assets worth more than €100m (£87m).

Although hedge fund managers were prepared for greater scrutiny – such as the disclosure of systemically important information – few expected the draft law to be so far-reaching