The FT has published an article highlighting the success of European jurisdictions as investment fund centres, of which, Malta and Cyprus are two noted examples. This article highlights the findings of the FT report.
Investment management from Europe
A recent publication by the Financial Times entitled ‘Investment management: Europe’s changing face' recalled the strict microeconomic and macro prudential rules applied by onshore European jurisdictions, such as Malta, which proved hugely popular with investors in the aftermath of the global financial crisis.
Nevertheless the article goes on to report that (…) the face of Europe’s asset management industry is changing (…). on account of:-
· the new asset management rules implemented by the EU and Switzerland,
· as well as the increased collection of wealth and investment opportunities outside of Europe.
Malta’s popularity in Europe
European investment management industry is not experiencing a diminuishing popularity. Rather there has been a re-distribution of inter-bloc popularity amongst the jurisdictions sought after by investors. In the field of asset management a marked shift was seen in favour of EU jurisdictions which in parallel with the high standard of regulation also have an appetite for attracting hedge funds and offer competitive infrastructural environments in comparison to the mainstream European jurisdictions.
The FT reported that Malta along with Cyprus have proven extremely popular in this regard. It is reported by FinanceMalta that to date over 400 funds are licenced in Malta. This includes a number of big commodity hedge funds which have relocated from London to Malta.
