Chief Executive's Report

It has now been over a year since I joined the Association, and I am pleased to say that we have made good progress during this time.  Increasingly, the Association is being recognized as the European reference for money market funds by investors, regulators and industry participants.  Our members have played a crucial role in this, and I am greatly appreciative of all their work.

Over the past year, IMMFA reviewed its Code of Practice, a set of best practice standards for the management and operation of money market funds.  We launched a revised version of the Code at the end of last year, in order to improve the resilience of the funds.  The regulatory context is changing quite rapidly in Europe, and we are currently working on market-leading standards which should anticipate these movements.

We have actively engaged in all relevant regulatory discussions relating to the future of the funds.  The classification which we developed with EFAMA laid the groundwork for the CESR definition of money market funds.  This harmonized, European definition of a money market fund should provide additional clarity to investors regarding the funds which they purchase.  Similar regulatory changes are occurring in the US, and we have also shared our experiences in this context as well.

However, the regulatory framework governing money market funds extends further than funds legislation.  Changes to banking laws may have a knock-on impact on the securities which money market funds can purchase, the way banks manage money market funds and/or the conditions under which banks can purchase these funds.  We remain actively involved in these discussions and are liaising with the banking community on these issues.

Finally, we have worked extensively on providing additional, improved information about money market funds to investors.  As well as requiring increased disclosure via the revised Code, we have looked to improve awareness and understanding of the funds.  Updated educational material about money market funds is available on our website, and we are in the process of updating the statistical information which we publish.  Our initial investor outreach seminar has begun, and we will be running more such events in the coming weeks.  

We will continue these efforts throughout the remainder of the year, with a particular emphasis on helping to shape the regulatory framework and providing better communication to investors.  Please feel free to get in touch if you would like to know more about this work.

Gail Le Coz
Chief Executive, IMMFA