Financial services giant launches in-house funds in wake of "gigantic" reporting rules

LONDON -- Certain German-based hedge fund firms are baulking at offering funds of external hedge funds in the country due to reporting rules implemented by BaFin, the German regulator, which certain practitioners feel are too difficult to comply with using external funds.

Christian Wrede, chief executive of Axa (Germany) says that as a result of the new reporting rules, the financial services giant is planning to launch a fund of in-house hedge funds by the second quarter of 2004. This, he