SOVEREIGN WEALTH FUNDS SELECTED ISSUES
SOVEREIGN WEALTH FUNDS SELECTED ISSUES

Summary/Abstract: Sovereign wealth funds (called later SWF) have attracted a lot of attention in the beginning of the new century as many countries from Arab world open funds and invest in the European Union (EU), including new state members such as Poland. This has given way to a rising concern over SWF investments’s influence have on the european economy. Taking into consideration that all sovereign wealth funds combined to hold more than $5 trillion in assets in 2012 and they will exceed the annual economic output of the U.S. by 2015 and that of the EU by 2016, it is important to understand exactly what sovereign wealth funds are and what are the potential benefits and risk involved. Due to their long-term strategic outlook, SWF might contribute to the stability of the international financial markets in the US and EU. It should build more precise and effective institutional framework of sovereign wealth funds’ policy rules, and accountability and transparency mechanisms. SWF can be managed and regulated in order to avoid protectionist measures on the part of the recipients of inward foreign direct investment (FDI), in turn it could greatly benefit bilateral economic relations between EU and the Gulf Cooperation Council GCC.

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