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.
Bloomington Pantagraph – Democrat Barack Obama on Wednesday brushed aside Republican charges that his tax plan amounts to socialism, but acknowledged it involves “spreading around opportunity’’ so that wealthier Americans — like himself — pay a little more to help lower-rung workers. |
Obama noted that when President Bush’s tax cuts were first proposed, his opponent for the White House, Republican John McCain, opposed them as irresponsibly targeted.
“Was John McCain a socialist back in 2000?’’ Obama asked at a news conference. Responding to the late-campaign line of attack repeated daily by McCain and running mate Sarah Palin, he said: “I think it’s an indication that they have run out of ideas.’’
Obama commented at a news conference after meeting with foreign policy and military luminaries to discuss “urgent issues’’ facing the country from abroad, an attempt to inoculate himself against the fresh charge from the McCain side that he is too untested for the White House.
Reuters – Blaming lax regulation for what turn into the worst U.S. financial crisis since the Great Depression, Rep. Barney Frank vowed on Monday to police banks and hedge funds more actively to avoid future financial meltdowns.
Frank, the powerful chairman of the House Financial Services Committee who has been credited with largely shaping the $700 billion bailout plan, also said he expects the cost of to be much less.
Frank said next year’s agenda will include capping runaway executive compensation, imposing restrictions on certain financial instruments and regulating certain areas of the market that are current not restricted.
"It was the lack of regulation that led to this crisis … We have to step in and impose regulations that will not allow this to happen again," Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat, said at a news conference in Newton, Massachusetts.
Ventura County Star- More than 400 real estate industry players have been indicted since March, — including dozens in the last two days — in a Justice Department crackdown on incidents of mortgage fraud that stem from the country’s housing crisis.
The FBI put the losses to home-owners and other borrowers who were victims in the schemes at more than $1 billion.
"Mortgage fraud poses a significant threat to our economy, to the stability of our nation’s housing markets and to the peace of mind of millions of American homeowners," Deputy Attorney General Mark Filip said at an afternoon news conference.
Reuters- South Korean broker Woori Investment & Securities said on Tuesday it will start a $100 million Asia-focused hedge fund in Singapore as part of plans to expand its business in Southeast Asia. Woori plans to boost revenue contribution from its overseas business to 20 percent in three years from five percent now, Joonho Hwang, chief financial officer of the Korean brokerage firm, told a news conference in Singapore.
The long/short hedge fund "Woori Absolute Partners" would likely start operations in July after an injection of $100 million from the parent.
