Fund managers to shun the basketcase known as Europe

Fund managers around the globe prefer to take their chances with corporate risk in the U.S. and Japan, rather than chance sovereign risk with Europe, according to the latest BofA Merrill Lynch survey of fund managers for March.

www.marketwatch.com...

Capitalists (those with the capital), also known as Builders and Destroyers of Nations, still prefer to keep their money on the traditional safe havens of the US and Japan. Europeans shouldn't feel bad, though. It's not as if the Builders-Destroyers have much of a choice.

www.marketwatch.com...

This is hilarious!

I love the way the US MSM and financial journalists & bloggers are spinning these latest developments in the propaganda war of this economical warfare.

This is all about the tighter regulations which will be implemented by the EU to clamp down on all this morally corrupt bettings against EU member countries through highly speculative Credit Default Swaps and manipulations/shorting of the €uro currenecy made by morally corrupted financial institutions like Sachs and Stanley & others during these financial crisis, when everyone else in the G20 countries are working feverishly to find the solutions and needs to be on the same page, and work together to solve the problems.

But apparently, the corrupted and greedy Wall Street financial institutions don't wanna play ball with the rest of the G20 during these crisis, although they are the main reason to WHY we are in this mess from the beginning.

Brussels targets derivatives to help euro

José Manuel Barroso says European commission considering ban on credit default swaps to ease market pressure on Greece

The European commission announced moves today to shore up the euro and ward off market pressure on Greece by considering a ban on complex derivatives allegedly being used to undermine the single currency.

The draconian move suggested by José Manuel Barroso, commission president, follows a joint campaign by the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, and the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, for a prompt clampdown on credit default swaps (CDS).
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In concerted criticism of the speculative attacks on the euro, Merkel was also joined by Jean-Claude Juncker, the Luxembourg leader and head of the eurozone of 16 countries using the single currency, in demanding swift action to rein in the markets.

Barroso said today it was "not justified" to buy CDSs "by unseen interventions on a risk, on a purely speculative basis ... The commission will examine closely the relevance of banning purely speculative naked sales on credit default swaps of sovereign debt."

The possible ban on CDSs – a form of insurance against the risk of default – would also be raised at the G20.

www.guardian.co.uk...

EU defends hedge fund rules against U.S. critics

(Reuters) - The European Union hit back on Thursday against U.S. criticism of plans to crack down on hedge funds, saying its push for openness in the industry met a commitment also given by Washington and others.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has complained to EU financial markets chief Michel Barnier about proposed rules to curb hedge fund borrowing and pay, the European Commission said.
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"The EU decision to act on hedge funds is in line with a G20 decision to reinforce transparency," the spokesman, Amadeu Altafaj, said. "The new hedge fund rules do not discriminate against foreign players and are not protectionist."

Brussels wants foreign investors -- such as New York hedge funds based in London -- to be more closely supervised as well as face stricter regulatory standards set in Europe.---

The timing of Geithner's letter could help London to wring out final concessions. Britain, home to most of Europe's hedge funds, has become increasingly isolated in fighting for lighter regulation of the sector.

Its financial center, the City of London, is worried that Britain has been outmaneuvered by Berlin and Paris, which want tighter control of speculators and banks.

Earlier on Thursday, Germany and France called for an inquiry into speculators who trade credit default swaps.
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The two sides also disagree over how to deal with large banks that pose a risk to the wider economy.

U.S. President Barack Obama wants to ban banks from trading on their own account as well as demanding they ditch stakes in hedge funds and private equity. Europe is more lenient.

The tug-of-war will put pressure on leaders of the G20 major countries who are trying to maintain momentum in a regulatory crackdown on banking.

www.reuters.com...

The E.U. and U.S. Quarrel Over Hedge Funds

BRUSSELS — The European Union on Thursday rebutted criticism by the United States of its plans to tighten the rules on hedge funds, even as Britain sought to water down the regulation to safeguard its own financial sector.

The trans-Atlantic dispute broke out after the U.S. Treasury secretary, Timothy F. Geithner, complained to Europe’s financial markets chief, Michel Barnier, about the proposed crackdown.

Amadeu Altafaj, a spokesman for Mr. Barnier, immediately struck back, saying that the E.U. decision to regulate the funds was in line with previously agreed-upon policies by the world’s biggest countries to enhance oversight of financial markets in the wake of the worst financial crisis in a generation.
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Some European politicians also suspect hedge funds of contributing to severe difficulties in Greece by staking money on whether the country will need to be bailed out to pay its debts.

E.U. finance ministers are scheduled to meet Tuesday in Brussels to vote on the draft proposals on hedge funds. Diplomats said ministers from most countries, with the exception of Britain, were likely to vote in favor of the new rules. The legislation still would need the approval of the European Parliament to become law, a process that could take a few more months.
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The rules would require funds to inform regulators about their trades and debts to ensure that they were not posing a risk to the financial system.
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Also on Thursday, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker of Luxembourg, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and Prime Minister George A. Papandreou of Greece jointly called on the European Union to look into ways of limiting the speculative use of credit default swaps.
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In a thinly veiled reference to the financial difficulties faced by Greece, the leaders also called on the European Commission to begin “a thorough enquiry on the role and the impact of speculative behavior” on credit default swaps and bonds issued by European states.

www.nytimes.com...

Hedge funds are not for hedging, says Spain's finance minister

Industry must be regulated, says Elena Salgado

The face of Elena Salgado, the Spanish finance minister, will become increasingly familiar in the City's boardrooms in coming months as Spain takes over leadership of the European Union at a crucial time for new rules on hedge funds and private equity.

At stake is London's position as the hub for 80% of Europe's $400bn (£240bn) hedge fund industry. If the EU's proposed directive is passed in its current form, hedge fund managers say they may leave their Mayfair offices and flee to Switzerland, where the regulations are less onerous.
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"The directive introduces some bigger obligations, in transparency and the protection of consumers, that we think are adequate."
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Spain is backing France and Germany, which have pushed towards tougher regulation of hedge funds, blaming them for exacerbating the credit crunch by betting on a plunge in banking shares. Salgado, and Spain's ruling Socialist party, also back Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy's criticism of so-called Anglo-Saxon capitalism, advocating a more socially sensitive model.

www.guardian.co.uk...

yes, even the fund managers have either -caught-on- or are now
in-the-loop with the bigboys that have clout, which are the 12-15
financial firms/baksters which got the bailout Billion$
(and the loan windows & facilities, undisclosed/ secret Trillion$)


The proposed stiffer regulations will be sluffed off by the Flush with taxpayers' cash, StockMarket players (formerly Banks which loaned $$)

the rig-up will continue, naked shorting, & pumped up equitiy valuations
for the DOW:S&P:NYSE stocks, all with inflated valuations...
whereas the EU markets will be undergoing a rather open transition with no secretive PPT (plung-protection-team) to whisper the strategies to the large banks now stockmarket players, and commodities players including the PMs


oh well...
i'm still going to be a contrairian & goldbug...and forego the likely, engineered, Bull Market in the USA because there's too much money involved & one needs to be 'connected' or at least close enough to hear the whispers of the bigboys

[edit on 18-3-2010 by St Udio]