Top fund management group launches in London after ‘attack’ from US regulators
A major US fund management body has announced a push into the UK today as its members come “under attack” in the US and look to capitalise on a more friendly regulatory environment.
The Washington-headquartered Managed Funds Association, which represents 170 firms managing some £1.8tn in assets, said overtures from regulators in the UK had led the firm to expand its presence in London and open up a first UK office, based in Mayfair.
MFA chief Bryan Corbett, a former senior adviser to George W. Bush and executive at private equity firm Carlyle, said an impending regulatory overhaul in the UK had been seen as an opportunity by the body’s members.
“We have felt very much under attack in the US in the past year. We haven’t had that sense of concern in the UK or the EU, frankly,” Corbett told Morning Wire “What we’ve seen in the UK is really an openness to soliciting feedback to make their markets more competitive.”
Corbett said the government’s so-called Edinburgh Reforms and a number of consultations kicked off by regulators would allow members to shape regulation in the UK.
Ministers are looking to reshape rules after Jeremy Hunt laid out the government’s regulatory priorities in the Edinburgh Reforms in December.
The FCA launched a consultation in February to overhaul the rules governing the asset management sector and the Treasury has just closed a consultation on tweaks to short-selling regulation.
The MFA submitted a letter in the short selling review, claiming that changes presents a “unique opportunity to enhance UK capital markets”.
Corbett said the MFA and its members were now looking to prevent the regulatory clampdown in the US from spilling into Europe and the UK.
“I think the concern now is that the overly regulatory nature in the US could go overseas and create negative unintended consequences in the UK market,” he added.
The MFA has called in British Chambers of Commerce policy guru James Martin to head up its London office.