Washington Post – The Bush administration’s decision to drop proposed money-laundering rules for hedge funds is "inexplicable, ill-timed and unwise," Sen. Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.) said yesterday.

Hedge funds, private investment pools whose investors are often wealthy individuals, have drawn increased scrutiny during the financial crisis. But even before the market troubles, some legislators worried that the largely unregulated funds could serve as a vehicle for money laundering, perhaps for tax evaders or terrorists.

"Hedge funds are unregulated financial companies that can handle millions of dollars in offshore money without any legal obligation to check who is behind the funds or report suspicious activities," Levin said in a statement. "But instead of plugging the hedge fund regulatory gap by issuing a final rule, the Administration went the opposite way, withdrew its anti-money laundering proposal, and offered nothing in its place."

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Tags: contagion, dealer-operations, emirates, goldsmith, gores-group, investment-risks, kenneth-heinz, law-professor, marketwatch, medallion, railroad-company, watchful-eye

West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net) – Vantage Reporting said it has changed its name to Vantage Software, reflecting the company’s focus on delivering products to private investment firms with modular software designed to easily enhance their existing systems.

“Since founding Vantage, we have worked with world-class clients to continually develop a solid set of core products that deliver the robust functionality of comparable packaged solutions,” said Vantage Software CEO Greg Woolf.  “By virtue of our innovative software design, we also give clients the option of customizing our solutions to meet their unique operational requirements.”

To support Vantage’s continued global growth, David Sayles has also joined Vantage as director of sales and client service.  Sayles will be responsible for the development and implementation of sales, account management and business development efforts. Sayles has more than 18 years of experience developing, bringing to market and managing financial technology solutions, particularly for the private investment industry.  He is a frequent speaker at conferences and industry events.

“David brings a wealth of experience in the financial and technology industries, including valuable insight into the unique operational environments of private investment firms,” Woolf added. “Given the company’s continued global growth, we are pleased to have such a seasoned sales and client service veteran help us continue to expand our market position and quality of service to our clients.”

Vantage has offices in Boston and New York and has four core software products – Vantage Deal Manager™, Vantage Performance™, Vantage Funds-of-Funds™ and Vantage Investor™. Leading private investment firms that have embraced Vantage’s unique approach manage raised more than $250 billion dollars in capital to date.

Alex Akesson

Editor for HedgeCo.Net
Email: alex@hedgeco.net

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Tags: barc, boston, commerzbank, feedback-loop, railroad-company, vigorous-growth

Wall Street Journal – Eager to keep one of its key employees, publicly traded Fortress Investment Group LLC has lavished a $300 million share grant on one of its star traders, 38-year-old Adam Levinson.

Mr. Levinson, who also is the chief investment officer of one the firm’s main funds, joins the private-equity and hedge-fund giant’s five other controlling shareholders, who together hold some $3 billion of company stock. These executives haven’t sold any shares since the company went public in 2007 and own 77% of the business.

Fortress has struggled mightily in its 18 months as a public company, losing two-thirds of its peak value amid brutal markets for financial firms.

Mr. Levinson’s windfall — which was alluded to in a May filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission — highlights the quandary of publicly traded private-investment outfits. On the one hand, they must compensate elite traders and dealmakers richly enough so they don’t leave for a competitor or start their own firms. The heads of large private hedge funds such as Citadel Investment Group and Paulson & Co. can — and have — earned billions of dollars in a single year.

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Tags: alan-greenspan, credit-strategies, current-value, failure, fortress-investment-group, fund-managers, lucrative-business, mayhem, new-marketplace, railroad-company, settlement-system