London fails to delay vote on EU hedge fund regulation

London has failed in a bid to stall voting on a controversial EU plan to tighten regulation on alternative investment funds.

British diplomats from the capital, home to about 80% of Europe's hedge funds, lobbied in Brussels, Berlin and Paris this week to delay an EU ballot on the Alternative Investment Fund Management directive. The directive was the subject of a heated exchange on BBC news between hedge fund manager Hugh Hendry (pictured) and head of the European Socialists Poul Nyrup Rasmussen in March. The UK has failed to put off the vote, which will proceed as planned on Tuesday, when the EU's finance ministers meet. Richard Saunders, IMA chief executive, is taking a pragmatic approach to the direct...