Brussels, 28/05/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 28 May, Commissioner McCreevy (Internal Market) announced that he intends to launch a legislative initiative to better protect investors in transferable securities. This initiative will clarify and strengthen provisions of the UCITS 85/611/EEC directive, particularly as regards the liability of depositories. A consultation will be launched before the end of June to deal with stakeholders' views. The Commission believes that retail investors should benefit from more or less the same protection as that envisaged for professional investors active on the Alternative Investment Fund markets. At the end of April, the Commission presented a draft directive on framing the activities of Alternative Investment Fund Managers (hedge funds and private investment funds) (EUROPE 9892).
This announcement follows work on the liability of UCIT depositories initiated by the Commission at the beginning of the year with the Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR). The Madoff scandal revealed national differences in transposing provisions from the EEC 85/611 directive on protecting retail investors. During the January Ecofin Council, France referred to the case of French investors who have appealed to UCITS depositaries based in Luxembourg, who had been swindled by the US financier, Madoff, but were unable to completely repay the sums invested by French investors (EUROPE 9822). (M.B./transl.rh)