Private equity attacks EU plan

The private equity industry has made a scathing attack on regulatory proposals from the European Union, saying they could restrict free movement of capital.

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The EC's proposals, a response to public anger at the excessive risk-taking that led to the credit crisis, would require alternative fund managers to register, seek government authorisation, and disclose more about themselves and their investments.

The City of London - home to much of Europe's hedge fund and private equity industry - has criticised the added regulatory burden.

Left-leaning European politicians say the proposals do not go far enough.

Jonathan Russell, EVCA chairman and head of buy-outs at 3i, told the Financial Times he was confident of persuading governments to push for wholesale changes in the directive, especially after elections dealt heavy losses to the socialists, who were its main architects.

"The directive would be incredibly complicated - it could really be quite dangerous. You are in danger of clogging up the system," Mr Russell said.

"We can make quite a lot of difference. People in the European parliament and Commission don't want poor-quality legislation. Member states understand that and want . . . a workable solution."

Socialists are incompetent haters of freedom, and want to bring London  down. No wonder they are presented as bumbling...

SPD adopts sober tone to match prudent times

The Federation of German Women Entrepreneurs is not a club the left-of-centre Social Democratic party would normally define as its core audience.

So when Franz Müntefering, the SPD chairman, addressed the association recently at Berlin's Hyatt hotel, braving mild scepticism and an eye-watering mist of Chanel No 5 perfume, he was not exactly on home ground.

However, these are desperate times for Germany's oldest party and junior partner in the national unity government of Angela Merkel, the chancellor.

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Having run an unapologetically leftwing European campaign, calling for higher wages and denouncing "finance sharks", the SPD is now repainting itself as pragmatic and sober to match the prudent zeitgeist.

Beyond the insulting description of female entrepreneurs, the socialists are described as having lost in the European elections for being too lefty rather than not enough, and the commentary is about how they are "desperate" and "opportunistic"...

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes