U.S. fundsters may want to pay attention to a brewing regulatory battle on the other side of the pond.

Tim Wright PwC Partner

Madison Marriage of the Financial Times reports that big asset managers in Europe are fighting new guidelines issued by the European Banking Authority that would extend European banking bonus rules to fundsters, too. The article mentions Aberdeen [profile], BlackRock [profile], Capital Group [profile], and Schroders [profile] as all potentially affected by the measure; all four of those firms offer funds in the U.S., too, and it's a good bet they each have U.S. funds that are PMed by teams in Europe.

The guidelines, the FT reports, would limit each employee's bonus to twice their salary and would require them to defer at least 40 percent of their bonuses for at least three years.

The paper says that people from two fund firms and a trade group in the United Kingdom have been meeting staff at the UK's Financial Conduct Authority to try to fight the guidelines. Word is that the FCA will decide by the end of April whether or not it will follow the EBA's lead.

"This has triggered a very high degree of concern among the firms that are caught by this," Tim Wright, partner in PwC's rewards practices, tells the FT. "If you talk to affected organisations, it is the biggest item on their agenda in terms of talent management and their people." 

Edited by: Neil Anderson, Managing Editor


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