Wealth Bulletin – Geneva’s public prosecutor said he has launched a criminal investigation into allegations that Banco Santander SA’s hedge-fund unit misled investors when it funneled their money into Bernard L. Madoff’s Ponzi scheme.

The formal investigation was opened following a complaint by Geneva Partners, an independent investment fund that bought financial products from Santander’s Geneva-based hedge-fund unit, Optimal Investment Services SA.

Dario Zanni, Geneva’s public prosecutor, said the inquiry would look at whether Optimal’s former chief executive, Manuel Echeverria, did the fact-finding claimed in the firm’s documents. "We have some suspicion about his [work]," Mr. Zanni said. "We are not sure he was doing his job compliant with his duties."

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Tags: banco santander, chief-executive, compliant, criminal investigation, dario, echeverria, formal investigation, geneva, hedge fund, independent investment, investigation-into-allegations, investment services, investment-fund, investors, madoff, optimal investment, ponzi scheme, public prosecutor, suspicion, zanni

West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net) – Vienna based hedge fund manager Salus Alpha Group Services GmbH has been awarded the alternative investments award of geld-magazins for extraordinary good performance for their Salus Alpha Directional Markets UCITS III Funds.

The Swedish state pension platform, Premium Pension Authority, recently included Salus Alpha funds in its portfolio. Included on the platform are Salus Alpha Real Estate, multi manager funds Salus Alpha Event Driven, Salus Alpha Managed Futures and Salus Alpha Equity Hedged.

The Salus Alpha funds that were chosen are UCITS III compliant, and meet the strict requirements regarding transparency, daily liquidity and adequate administration procedures set up for hedge funds by the Swedish pension authority.

Alex Akesson

Tags: accredited-investors, administration procedures, alpha-group, alternative investments, compliant, futures, group services, hedge-fund-manager, hedgeco, liquidity, magazins, palm-beach, state pension, strict requirements, swedish state, transparency, ucits-iii