Analyse : Gestion d'actifs : Sur la voie d'un marché unique européen

Les auteurs du centre de recherche de la Deutsche Bank examinent les différentes possibilités de parvenir à un véritable marché pan-européen de l’investissement. 

Raimar Dieckmann, Nikolaus Neundoerfer and Immo Westphal from Deutsche Bank Research say much remains to be done to create a single market for the investment fund industry.

In their opinion, this industry « plays a vital macroeconomic role as it contributes to the efficient allocation of capital » and « an efficient investment fund industry is crucial to enhance the financial independence of EU citizens. »

Despite its importance « national borders and deficiencies in the regulatory framework continue to restrict the full evolvement of a single European market in asset management, » according to the authors. To make real change, they advocate « a fundamental revision of the UCITS Directive in (the Commission’s) White Paper » due at the end of 2006. They support their arguments through the following points:

• « The cross-border distribution of investment funds is still on a small scale due to tax constraints, diverging notification procedures and barriers to cross-border fund mergers. »
• Due to cross-border barriers, the market is « highly fragmented » resulting in investment funds of « suboptimal size. »

To remedy the current situation, they highlight a few « high priority issues »:

• Deficiencies in notification process, which could be solved through « basing cross-border distribution on mutual recognition. »
• « The inclusion of a cross-border merger regime in the UCITS framework. »
• Updating the risk categorisation system
• The application of the Lamfalussy framework to UCITS