Days after taking over from Dörte Höppner at the helm of the European private equity trade body Invest Europe, Michael Collins spoke to Financial News about why fear over the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s plan to restrict tax treaty benefits to investors in private equity funds is his industry’s top concern, rather than Brexit.

The UK's decision to limit the tax deductibility of debt in its April Budget announcement was a direct result of the OECD's agenda on base erosion and profit-shifting under a G20 mandate on tax standards. The intergovernmental body is expected to propose standards to tackle tax treaty abuse in 2017, the same year that the much-maligned directive for instituting a single European market for alternatives managers - AIFMD 1 - will also be up for review.