WEST PALM BEACH, FL (HEDGECO.NET) – The President’s Working Group on financial markets has scheduled a meeting next week; part of the agenda is the recent proposal by the SEC to subject US basedhedge funds to regulatory oversight. According to SEC spokeswoman Laura Cox, Chairman William Donaldson asked that the agenda for the meeting should include hedge fund regulatory issues.
The Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank, Alan Greenspan as well as Treasury Secretary Tony Snow are also part of the committee, both have raised concerns over the proposed regulation of US hedge funds, and possible impact on the financial markets. William Donaldson and James Newsome, the Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, are also members of the committee. In a 3-2 vote Wednesday, the SEC recommended that US based hedge funds, managing over US $25 million in investor assets be subjected to a mandatory regulatory oversight by the agency.
Hedge fund industry participants as unnecessary have criticized the new proposals. John Gaine, president of the Managed Funds Association, a hedge fund trade group with about 800 members, said the SEC have not made a case why hedge funds should be regulated. Gaine said, �The case for mandatory investment adviser registration of hedge fund mangers has not been made and we expect that once all the facts are in, the proposal will not be adopted.�
Other groups such as The Investment Company Institute, which represents the $7.5 trillion mutual fund industry, welcomed the SEC initiative. The President of the group, Paul Stevens, said the proposal will provide the SEC basic facts and information about the hedge fund industry. The new SEC proposals have many unanswered questions, regarding offshore hedge funds. The proposal exempts offshore funds with less than 15 US clients, as well as publicly traded non-US hedge funds. These ambiguities and other matters relating to the new proposals may eventually need to be clarified.
Paul Oranika
Editor-in-Chief
HedgeCo.Net
Email: [email protected]
HedgeCo.Net is a premier hedge fund database and community for qualified and accredited investors only. Membership on www.hedgeco.net is FREE and EASY. We also offer FREE LISTINGS for Hedge Funds!
Be sure to check out our sister sites. www.hedgefundlounge.com, www.hedgefundtools.com, and www.hedgefundemployment.com.
