Sioux City Journal – Last year’s winning bid for lunch with legendary investor Warren Buffett topped $2.1 million, but given the economic turmoil, who knows if this year’s bidding will approach that level.

Yet Buffett has built a devoted following as demonstrated by the crowd of 35,000 people at his recent Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting, and he offers only one lunch per year.

The online bidding begins at $25,000 Sunday in a charity auction that benefits the Glide Foundation, which provides social services to the poor and homeless in San Francisco. The bids will likely escalate significantly before the auction closes Friday evening at 9 p.m. CDT.

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Reuters – The Hedge Fund Standards Board, the body set up to develop voluntary standards in the industry, said on Wednesday it now represents about half of hedge fund assets in Europe.

The announcement comes as hedge funds attempt to head off tougher regulation in the wake of turmoil in the global financial system.

The industry has come under intense scrutiny, most notably for the impact of short-selling employed by many managers. In September, regulators in the U.S. and Europe imposed a temporary ban on shorting financial stocks.

Ten new signatories to the HFSB include Blackrock Investment Management UK, New Star Asset Management and Sabre Fund Management. They join 14 existing members including Man Group Plc, the world’s largest hedge fund manager, GLG Partners and Marshall Wace.

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