NYT - Lobbying Effort Backfires for Hedge Funds - by Paul Taylor
The hedge fund industry has incurred a backlash by lobbying aggressively against proposed European Union rules and now faces possible pay curbs that were not envisaged in the original legislation. Attacks by some London-based hedge funds and British politicians have had the effect of softening European Commission proposals to regulate alternative investment companies. But the lobbyists have misjudged the tide of public opinion. They have goaded the E.U.’s presidency, now held by Sweden, into adding new rules that would defer fund managers’ bonuses and ban “golden handcuff” payments to retain star performers.
“There is a danger that this lobbying is backfiring against the industry,” said Karel Lannoo, chief executive of the Center for European Policy Studies in Brussels and an expert on financial regulation. He supports the aims of the directive.
