Each business day HedgeCo.Net keeps you informed with the top hedge fund industry news, opinion and insight from around the globe. From the latest hedge fund launches, to the impact of regulation, competition, and investor activism - we track the topics and people that make a difference to you.
Boston.com – Federal investigators plan to charge at least 10 securities professionals with insider trading, some linked to the criminal case against billionaire hedge fund manager Raj Rajaratnam that shook Wall Street last week, people familiar with the matter said yesterday.
The pending crackdown, more than two years in the making and among the biggest undercover operations into insider trading, may yield charges against hedge fund managers and their associates as early as this week, the people said, declining to be identified because the cases aren’t public. Authorities had planned to arrest Rajaratnam this week as part of a broader sweep, expediting it after learning he had bought a plane ticket to travel to London on Friday, one person said.
New York Times – The United States is building criminal cases against more than 150 American clients of UBS as part of a crackdown on tax evasion now made easier by a deal over access to secret account information.
U.S. prosecutors gave their first official confirmation of the initial number of criminal investigations in a filing on Tuesday with a federal court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The number of criminal probes is widely expected to mushroom soon, Reuters reported.
In the same court document, the prosecutors requested a sharply reduced prison sentence for ex-UBS banker Bradley Birkenfeld, a key informant in the ongoing U.S. prosecutions of wealthy American clients of UBS.
The Independent – Grimly aware that a European Commission crackdown on regulation of hedge funds and private equity spells disaster for the EU’s predominantly London-based industry, Treasury ministers have been desperately lobbying their counterparts in Brussels for months, but their pleas have fallen on deaf ears.
Now, however, the Americans have woken up to the fact that many of their hedge funds would find it impossible to do business in the EU under proposals for regulatory reform. In recent weeks, US Treasury officials have thus been touring the EU, letting their displeasure be known.
It appears that the Americans’ involvement is already paying dividends. Sweden, which holds the EU presidency, was quietly letting it be known yesterday that it will ensure some sort of compromise is brokered. The Alternative Investment Management Association, which represents the sector’s interests, now thinks disaster may be averted.
Reuters UK – Britain’s Financial Services Authority (FSA) plans to triple some of the fines it imposes on financial sector wrongdoers as part of a crackdown on offences such as mis-selling and insider dealing.
The bigger fines are designed to deter firms and individuals from breaking market rules by making the costs of doing so prohibitively high, the FSA said in a statement on Monday.
"By hitting companies and individuals in the pocket where it hurts, the fines will be a stark warning to others on what they can expect to pay for flouting our rules," FSA director of enforcement Margaret Cole said.
Bloomberg – The Group of 20 leaders will agree on new rules to rein in hedge funds and may more than double the resources of the International Monetary Fund, U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling said.
“There is a recognition that some hedge funds are systemically important,” Darling told Bloomberg Television in an interview today in London. “There will be an agreement there. Where you’ve got something that’s systemically important like a hedge fund, you need to know what’s going on there.”
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has struggled to allay the concerns of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy as they press for a crackdown on traders and lenders. Darling’s comments suggest consensus is now emerging among G-20 leaders in the London talks on measures to combat the financial crisis.
LONDON (AP) – Britain’s financial services watchdog proposed sweeping changes to global banking regulations on Wednesday, including a crackdown on the "shadow banking" activities of institutions like hedge funds.
The government-commissioned banking services report recommends new rules on a wide range of issues from increased requirements on banks on holding capital to stricter controls on bankers’ bonuses to discourage excessive risk taking.
Financial Services Authority chairman Adair Turner said that the market economy remained the best means of delivering global prosperity, but major changes in regulation and supervision were required to ensure that it is focused on the needs of businesses and households rather than taking risks for quick return.
The report embraces actions necessary in Britain and also discusses those that would require international cooperation. Britain will host an April 2 summit of the Group of 20 rich and developing countries that will discuss ways to address the world financial crisis, including more regulation
Times Online – Secretive hedge funds will eventually be subject to the same supervisory rules as banks, under a tightening of Britain’s system of regulation.
The changes, which will require banks and other lenders to build up their reserves in healthy economic times, could become the basis for international efforts to overhaul regulation at the G20 summit in London on April 2. The moves will be proposed on Wednesday in a report by Lord Turner of Ecchinswell, chairman of the Financial Services Authority, who will call for an overhaul of the tripartite links between the FSA, the Bank of England and the Treasury.
They follow repeated pledges from Gordon Brown for a crackdown on the “shadow banking system”.
Street.Com – Financial authorities on the Cayman Islands are promising a legislative crackdown to bolster investor confidence in the post-Madoff era. But while the Caymans — long a hedge fund haven due to tax advantages and light regulation — may push for tighter oversight, experts predict they will not lose their status as hedge funds’ offshore crown jewel.
The Caymans have been touted in recent years as the "centre of choice" for hedge funds by Walkers, a major offshore law firm, as well as other service providers for several investor-friendly reasons.
