SEC to investigate hedge funds
By Leticia Williams, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 12:08 PM ET May 24, 2002
WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Harvey Pitt
said Friday that the agency will investigate hedge funds as instances of fraud among them are
on the rise.
"The current regulatory scheme
presumes that hedge funds are not
required to register under certain
circumstances," Pitt told reporters
Friday.
"One of the things we are going to
look into is whether that creates
any regulatory arbitrage or
disparity," he said.
The sole criterion, Pitt said, for any
decisions the agency makes will be
based on whether investors are
being injured.
Pitt made the comments to
reporters after delivering a speech
at the mutual fund industry group
Investment Company Institute's
annual meeting.
As hedge funds reach beyond
traditionally sophisticated clientele,
to average investors, who may not
understand the way hedge funds
work in the first place, the SEC is
under pressure to make sure those
investors are protected.
"They were dealt with lightly when
they sold only to sophisticated
investors," Pitt said. "But, when they start selling to the average investor on the street, then it's
time for the SEC to take a very close look."
Hedge funds and private equity funds have experienced a "seismic boom in both number and
total assets under management" Pitt said in his speech.
But because the funds are not held up to any reporting requirements the SEC has little
information on hand to monitor their operations.
If the SEC were to implement requirements on the entities to mirror those currently imposed
on mutual funds they would be regulated on the amount in fees they could charge clients as
well as be subject to periodic financial reviews.
By Leticia Williams, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 12:08 PM ET May 24, 2002
WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Harvey Pitt
said Friday that the agency will investigate hedge funds as instances of fraud among them are
on the rise.
"The current regulatory scheme
presumes that hedge funds are not
required to register under certain
circumstances," Pitt told reporters
Friday.
"One of the things we are going to
look into is whether that creates
any regulatory arbitrage or
disparity," he said.
The sole criterion, Pitt said, for any
decisions the agency makes will be
based on whether investors are
being injured.
Pitt made the comments to
reporters after delivering a speech
at the mutual fund industry group
Investment Company Institute's
annual meeting.
As hedge funds reach beyond
traditionally sophisticated clientele,
to average investors, who may not
understand the way hedge funds
work in the first place, the SEC is
under pressure to make sure those
investors are protected.
"They were dealt with lightly when
they sold only to sophisticated
investors," Pitt said. "But, when they start selling to the average investor on the street, then it's
time for the SEC to take a very close look."
Hedge funds and private equity funds have experienced a "seismic boom in both number and
total assets under management" Pitt said in his speech.
But because the funds are not held up to any reporting requirements the SEC has little
information on hand to monitor their operations.
If the SEC were to implement requirements on the entities to mirror those currently imposed
on mutual funds they would be regulated on the amount in fees they could charge clients as
well as be subject to periodic financial reviews.