Financial markets: hedge and private equity funds

Hedge and private equity funds are a large industry and its impact on financial market stability and in the functioning of the whole economy is not regulated. Assets in hedge and private equity funds stand at USD 3 trillion today and are expected to reach USD 10 trillion by the end of 2010. The biggest five equity deals together are larger than the annual budgets of all but 16 of the world’s largest nations.

The PES believes that action is needed to ensure that hedge and private equity funds operate in a way that benefits not only funds manager but also investors, workers and other interested parties. Hedge and private equity funds need proper and efficient regulation and supervision within the framework of the EU and at international level.

The PES, in full cooperation with the Socialist Group in the European Parliament, has been working on this issue for more than a year. The Socialist Group has presented a report in the European Parliament: Hedge Funds and Private Equity - a critical analysis, by PES President Poul Nyrup Rasmussen and MEP Ieke van den Burg.

At its Council in Sofia, the PES has adopted a resolution giving a clear mandate to further political action.
Resolution on financial markets , Sofia, 22-23 November 2007