GUERNSEY is continuing to lobby against the proposed EU Alternative Investment Fund Managers directive.

The rules, which are still in draft form, look to provide a regulatory framework for hedge funds, private equity firms and other alternative investment vehicles, but in their current format could destroy Guernsey’s fund industry, with question marks still hanging over whether the island will be seen as an equivalent and a third party with access to the EU.

Just last week it emerged that the House of Lords European Union Committee was also against the directive in its current form and was recommending that Britain withhold its consent to the new rules until they have been changed substantially to bring them into line with global regulatory frameworks, particularly that of the US which, like Guernsey and Jersey, could be classed as a ‘third country’.

The peers are concerned that without this being taken into account, the EU would be damaging its own economy and, more importantly, that of the UK.

‘Guernsey is not a member of the EU, therefore cannot vote on the legislation,’ said Guernsey Investment Funds Association chairman Grant Cameron (pictured).

‘However, the working party, led by Jarrod Cowley-Grimmond and which includes members of Gifa and the Guernsey Financial Services Commission, has been very active making our position known to the EU and to individual members of the European Commission. This lobbying activity is continuing.’

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