Investor Protection: Towards Additional EU Regulation of Investment Funds?

The expansion of the fund industry has been one of the most notable trends in the financial markets of recent years. Not only has the demand for funds among EU investors grown, but both the number and types of investment funds also continue to increase. Accordingly, the need for regulatory protection of retail investors has taken on new importance.

This book investigates whether current EU investor protection law applying to investment funds adequately protects retail investors, and if not what adjustments should be made. The analysis considers the basic characteristics of investment funds, how they function in practice, and how they are regulated. Factors examined in depth include the following:

• features of funds most relevant to the protection of retail investors;

• operational structure, investment strategies, fee structure, and legal structure of funds;

• internal control systems;

• transparency and disclosure rules;

• conduct of business rules; and

• depositary monitoring rules.

The author examines relevant EU directives and rules and the particular remit of each, as well as US law applying to investment funds that are active in the EU. Case law and relevant literature in the field is also drawn on.

As an assessment of the current degree of protection applying to funds that are available to EU retail investors – as well as an up-to-date overview of regulatory requirements and procedures concerning the protection of EU investors in investment funds – this book is unsurpassed. Especially valuable is the closing discussion about whether the EU regulatory system provides an adequate degree of protection for EU retail investors, and if not which additional rules should be adopted. Lawyers and other professionals in all areas of law and policy concerned with investment and finance will find this book of great value.