Hedge fund chiefs face grilling on role in crisis
Monday, January 26, 2009 : Permalinkguardian.co.uk – Secretive hedge fund barons, blamed by many for undermining Britain’s financial stability, will be unmasked on Tuesday when they are forced into the public spotlight by the powerful Treasury select committee.
As suggestions grow that hedge funds have made huge sums shorting UK bank stocks and sterling, the billionaire Chris Hohn and Liberal Democrat-supporting tycoon Paul Marshall will be quizzed on whether the predicted decimation of hedge funds as a result of the financial crisis could destabilise the global economic system further.
Hedge fund bosses will argue that they manage "only" £1.3 trillion of cash, which is less than a large fund manager, and that not one hedge fund has received a public bail-out. In addition, of the 150 bans or censures levelled by the Financial Services Authority since 2005, only two have involved hedge funds. They will also say that there have been numerous examples of hedge funds shorting sub-prime assets ahead of the credit crunch.
Tags: bank-stocks, barons, billionaire, censures, chris-hohn, credit crunch, decimation, financial crisis, financial-services-authority, financial-stability, global economic system, liberal democrat, paul marshall, public spotlight, sums, treasury select committee, trillion, tycoon
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