02/09/2009
London Mayor out of touch on financial reform
Commenting on the Mayor of London’s visit to Brussels to lobby Commissioner McCreevy and MEPs against regulation of hedge funds and private equity, PES President Poul Nyrup Rasmussen said “Boris Johnson is out of touch with reality if he thinks he can water down this legislation. It is the result of an overwhelming consensus between conservatives, liberals and socialists in the European Parliament and has strong support from many European Governments.”
Rasmussen added “Let’s not forget that this draft directive is the bare minimum, and full of holes. Instead of getting Johnson to lobby on their behalf the City of London should be very satisfied they have escaped so lightly. What’s worse, Johnson has got his facts wrong. He says hedge funds and private equity played no role in the financial crisis, but the point is to avoid future crises. In any case hedge funds and private equity did play a major role in the explosion of excessive debt which was at the heart of the crisis. Frankly, I do not understand why Mayor Johnson thinks that some modest and long-overdue reforms will damage the City of London, I have always been told that the City of London was highly competitive and very robust.”
Read more on the draft directive
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Julian Scola, Communications Advisor - Media & Campaigns
Party of European Socialists, Rue du Trône, 98 - 1050 Brussels
Mobile +32 486 117 394
julian.scola@pes.org
