Hedge Funds: Get Set to Register
by Paula Schaap ,Senior Reporter , June 15, 2009
When President Barack Obama unveils his proposal for the overhaul of the financial sectorâs regulatory system, one thing is almost certain.
Hedge fund firms will be required to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The asset class has protested that it was highly-regulated entities, like banks and insurance companies, which were behind the over-securitization of asset-backed debt and the subsequent economic crash. But government officials are still wary of what are viewed as unregulated large sums of money moving through financial systems.
Bills to require hedge fund registration are now before both houses of the U.S. legislature.
The SEC had tried to pass regulations several years ago that would require hedge funds to register. But hedge fund manager Phil Goldstein took the agency to court and the regulation was overturned.
The new Obama plan is also expected to increase the oversight powers of the U.S. Federal Reserve and to create a system that will manage the collapse of huge financial institutions, those that have been deemed âtoo big to fail.â It is also likely to create a new agency that will oversee retail investment products, while doing away with the Office of Thrift Supervision, one of a number of agencies that supervise banks.
by Paula Schaap ,Senior Reporter , June 15, 2009
When President Barack Obama unveils his proposal for the overhaul of the financial sectorâs regulatory system, one thing is almost certain.
Hedge fund firms will be required to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The asset class has protested that it was highly-regulated entities, like banks and insurance companies, which were behind the over-securitization of asset-backed debt and the subsequent economic crash. But government officials are still wary of what are viewed as unregulated large sums of money moving through financial systems.
Bills to require hedge fund registration are now before both houses of the U.S. legislature.
The SEC had tried to pass regulations several years ago that would require hedge funds to register. But hedge fund manager Phil Goldstein took the agency to court and the regulation was overturned.
The new Obama plan is also expected to increase the oversight powers of the U.S. Federal Reserve and to create a system that will manage the collapse of huge financial institutions, those that have been deemed âtoo big to fail.â It is also likely to create a new agency that will oversee retail investment products, while doing away with the Office of Thrift Supervision, one of a number of agencies that supervise banks.