German Finance Minister accuses British of stopping hedge fund oversight

May 5 (EIRNS) - Germany's Finance Minister Peer Steinbrueck said on Friday that his original proposal for hedge fund transparency will not be realized for the time being - due primarily to resistance by the British. Handelsblatt.online reports today that Steinbrueck, speaking in Frankfurt, said that he found visibly more openness to his views among the Americans (!).

Although the upcoming June G-8 Summit will, under these conditions, not pass any effective measures on hedge fund control, the German Government holds to its view that more than just voluntary standards agreed among the funds themselves was required, that a formal code of conduct should be agreed, at some time. Sources inside the German Government have leaked that the British insisted that any reference to the term "transparency" be taken out of the G-8 documents, because in their view, that smelled of "regulation" which is something the City of London firmly rejects.