European Socialists vote for action on hedge and private equity funds

22 November 2007

European Socialist and Social Democratic parties today adopted a resolution calling into question the behaviour and regulation of private equity and hedge funds.

The resolution, adopted unanimously by delegates from 30 parties at the Council of the Party of European Socialists meeting in Sofia, calls for:

- transparency of private equity and hedge funds and the setting of minimum reporting standards;
-the relevant authorities to consider limits on leverage to lower the risk of default;
-effective taxation of fund managers;
-the G8 Task Force on financial markets to take into account the proposals above as well as the protection of workers rights in leveraged buy outs.

Taking part in the debate with European socialists and social democrats was the Democratic Chairman of the US House Committee on Financial Services, Barney Frank, who told the Council “We are all believers in capitalism properly run. The markets need a public sector that understands the benefits of free financial markets and the need for a proper regulatory policy to protect us against the excesses that threaten the world.”

Among those speaking in favour of the resolution were Austrian Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer, Bulgarian Deputy Finance Minister Gyorgi Kadiev, former Irish finance Minister Ruairi Quinn, Chair of the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee Pervenche Béres, Belgian MEP Mia De Vits and Greek MEP Stavros Lambrinidis. 

PES President Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, who published a book earlier this week in his native Denmark on the capital funds called ‘The era of greed’, said “The threat posed by hedge and private equity funds to healthy companies, jobs and workers’ rights is the unacceptable face of today’s global capitalism. There is an urgent need for reform. It is about re-establishing respect among the financial markets for the needs of the real economy. With the resolution adopted today by Europe’s leading socialist and social democratic parties, the tide is turning in favour of change.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Julian Scola, Communications Advisor
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