UK to ease rules for smaller private equity and hedge funds

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's government wants to dilute regulations for smaller private equity and hedge funds in a bid to bolster the country's appeal as an investment hub.

The UK finance ministry and the Financial Conduct Authority regulator launched plans on Monday to lift the threshold for 'full-scope' regulation from 100 million pounds of assets to 5 billion pounds ($129 million to $6.4 billion) for alternative asset managers.

Emma Reynolds, Britain's economic secretary, said in a statement the government was focused on "tearing down unnecessary barriers to investment".

Institutional investors have been piling into alternative assets such as infrastructure in recent years in search of higher returns, jockeying with more established players from private equity firms to hedge funds.

The announcement of the proposals comes as global markets have been roiled in recent days by the announcement of steep tariffs by U.S. President Donald Trump, threatening to upend global trade relationships and raising risks across markets.

The FCA has requested comments on the proposals by June 9.

($1 = 0.7764 pounds)

(Reporting by Raechel Thankam Job in Bengaluru and Iain Withers in London; Editing by Tommy Reggiori Wilkes and Toby Chopra)