European governments that acquired stakes in domestic lenders to keep them afloat may find it difficult to unload their shares without new banking regulations in place, according to John Fraser, ceo of UBS Global Asset Management. Fraser said four or five years ago, sovereign wealth funds would have been the “obvious candidates” to purchase the assets and that it is now hard to gauge pensions funds’ appetite for these assets. He said bank regulations would make it “a far more optimal” environment for such sales.
