The Alternative Investment Management Association (AIMA) and Alternative Credit Council (ACC) have cautiously welcomed the Capital Market Union (CMU) initiatives proposed today by the European Commission.

Capital markets play a key role in funding and supporting sustainable economic growth across the EU. These proposals are a signal that the EU is committed to enhancing the role of market-based finance in the European economy.

The much-needed ELTIF reforms, for which AIMA and the ACC advocated, will support greater investment in the real economy and provide European SMEs with a new source of long-term growth capital. The proposals on market data transparency and the new European Single Access Point (ESAP) will increase market transparency and efficiency which is crucial to attracting more investment.

The industry body said that AIFMD is a well-functioning regime and as such should be changed only where absolutely required in order to preserve stability and certainty. AIMA and ACC support a targeted approach that should not harm investor access to best-in-class products and global financial centres.

Jack Inglis, the CEO of AIMA, said: “Today’s package has some solid elements in it. The ELTIF proposal has significant improvements to the existing regime and could really open up the market to new sources of capital. Similarly, the proposals for the creation of a consolidated tape in the EU are long overdue. And while we remain concerned about parts of the AIFMD proposals regarding loan funds and investor access to third country expertise, we hope to work with the lawmakers to make those workable for the industry and its investors.”