EU gets smart about danger of hedge funds...and Geithner?

[WhiskeyGirl]

ome readers have asked to see the full text of the letter  that Sen. Charles Schumer sent to U.S. Treasury Secretary Timother Geithner on Tuesday threatening retaliatory legislation if the European Union passes a law that will effectively bar U.S. funds from marketing in the bloc. The letter, dated March 23, appears in full below.

Dear Secretary Geithner,

I am writing you out of deep concern about proposals circulating in the European Union that would overtly discriminate against American funds. There are multiple proposals under consideration, but they would all have the effect of significantly limiting or even prohibiting non-EU investment funds from marketing in the EU, despite the fact that EU-based funds have full access to our markets.

I fully support your letter, dated March 1st, 2010, to European Commissioner Michel Barnier, and I respectfully urge you to work with Mr. Barnier, the European Council and the European Parliament to ensure the adoption of provisions that will not discriminate against U.S. firms.  Just as EU-based funds and custodian banks currently have full access to our market, U.S.-based funds and custodian banks should similarly not arbitrarily be denied access to the European market.

more here - http://blogs.wsj.com/brussels/2010/03/24/schumers-hedge-fund-letter-to-geithner/

Maybe hedge funds, derivatives, and CDS's are just bad ideas? 

Time to just say no?

[WhiskeyGirl]

from the comments -

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          o 6:48 pm March 24, 2010
          o Anonymous wrote:

      I can tell you right now that the attitude of the Europeans toward US financial instituitions borders on disgust. Because of the involvement of US-based banks (such as GS, Citi) in Greece and other small towns across the continent, somehow the image of the US has been transformed from a leader in technology into a country that produces only Madoff-like ponzi scheme creators. This is a sad stuation.