Against their will

Europe’s asset management industry is chiding Brussels bureaucrats for trying to bury it under a mountain of Basel-inspired regulation, which could boost costs and capital charges. Carola Schenk reports

Across Europe, banks are in advanced preparations for the new European Union (EU) capital adequacy directive, Cad 3, which will come into force in 2006. But most of the region’s asset managers have yet to start to ready their risk management systems for the new regimen. Instead, the industry is engaged in a heated dialogue with the European Commission (EC) over Cad 3 and – unlike the banking sector – still hopes to garner major concessions from Brussels before the new rules come into force. It