NEW YORK  Phillip Goldstein is an unlikely torchbearer for the swashbuckling hedge-fund industry.
He was a New York civil engineer for 25 years before launching his fund from his basement in Brooklyn, and he drives a Toyota Camry.
“Before that, I had a Corolla,” Goldstein said.
But the 60-year-old Goldstein is leading a closely watched effort to prevent the Securities and Exchange Commission from greatly expanding regulation of the trillion-dollar hedge-fund business.
He is suing to overturn a new rule that would force hedge funds managing more than $25 million to be registered with the agency by Feb. 1 and undergo periodic audits. He appeared to gain traction last month when a federal appeals panel peppered SEC attorneys with tough questions about the legal justification for the rule.
The SEC says it must get a handle on the freewheeling investment pools that are mushrooming in popularity among pension funds, endowments and wealthy individuals.
