By Huw Jones
LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - The case for updating European Union rules overseeing the bloc's 6.2 trillion euro mutual funds sector has yet to be made and a proposal may not emerge, Luxembourg Treasury Minister Luc Frieden said.
The EU framework, known as undertakings in collective investment in transferable securities or UCITS, has been reformed twice since an original directive in 1985.
UCITS compliant funds form the bulk of fund investments in the 27-nation bloc and the framework is already seen as a gold standard in the world's asset management industry.
"I first have to be convinced of the need to change something in the current framework," Frieden said in an interview ahead of the Reuters Funds Summit.
His comments will add to growing uncertainty over the intentions of the EU's executive European Commission, which has been drafting the much-delayed proposals for a third revision dubbed UCITS 4.
A Commission official said publication has been tentatively set for April but this has yet to be confirmed.
EU Internal Market Commissioner Charle McCreevy is authoring the proposal and has already consulted heavily with industry.
His proposal has also undergone internal consultation in the Commission, typically the final step before adoption and a change of heart at this stage would be relatively rare. Continued...
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