Chief executives 'must oppose' EU equity restrictions

European Union (EU) proposals to increase regulation of the continent's private equity industry should be opposed by corporate chief executives.

That is according to the European Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (EVCA), which described the EU plans as "misguided" and called on senior executives of private equity-backed companies to defend the practice.

Specifically, the policy, if passed, will require private equity firms to register with regulators, comply with limits on borrowing and meet increased capital requests, the Financial Times reported.

Richard Wilson, who is due to be unveiled as EVCA's chairman tomorrow (November 26th), also urged investors to publicly state their opposition to the governance overhaul.

According to the newspaper, he said: "For politicians it is all about the real economy, so we would like to see more private equity-owned companies speaking out."

Earlier this month, the Swedish presidency of the EU, suggested that plans to cap the remuneration of banking executives across Europe should be extended to cover private equity houses and hedge funds.