Sweden wants EU bonus cap on hedge funds, PE-media

STOCKHOLM, Nov 11 (Reuters) - European Union rules to cap bankers' bonuses to prevent excessive risk-taking should include hedge funds and private equity firms, Swedish TT news agency quoted the country's markets minister saying on Wednesday.

Sweden, which holds the rolling presidency of the 27-member bloc, has proposed expanding plans adopted earlier this week to boost banks' capital and limit bonuses to include parts of the financial sector which are today basically unregulated.

Financial Markets Minister Mats Odell said that there needed to be a "level playing field for the whole financial sector."

"We have finished negotiations in the working group and now we are going to publish the results. It will mean regulation of a sector that has, up to now, been unregulated in a great part of Europe," Odell said.

He said the proposal was supported by other member states and would be published in the next day or two.

On Tuesday, European Union finance ministers adopted a preliminary agreement to boost capital requirements for banks and prevent bank pay policies "that generate unacceptable levels of risk."

EU states and the European Parliament have the final say on the reform.