Hedge Funds Make Last-Ditch Eort to Avoid Oversight

The $866 billion hedge fund industry is making a last-ditch attempt to stop a Securities and Exchange Commission plan to impose new regulations on the private investment partnerships designed for wealthy investors.Hedge fund lawyers and lobbyists, including John Gaine of the Managed Funds Association, told Commissioner Roel Campos and SEC staff last week they would support some form of oversight, possibly even the current plan to register fund managers, if the agency delayed a vote scheduled for today on its proposal. The industry’s compromise offer, which may have come too late, reverses its position opposing any form of SEC regulation.“Everything is on the table,” said Mr. Gaine, president of the association in Washington, which lobbies for 800 hedge funds. “This was a very good faith effort on our part to say, let’s not vote on this thing on Tuesday and let’s sit down around the table and really work on what the issues are.”A divided SEC in July gave preliminary approval to rules that would for the first time extend the SEC’s regulatory powers to hedge funds. SEC Chairman William Donaldson has championed the plan, saying the industry is growing too fast to escape scrutiny.Critics of the proposal, including House Financial Services Chairman Michael Oxley, an Ohio Republican, and Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, say government regulation of hedge funds may hinder the efficiency of the financial markets.Hedge funds are lightly regulated private investment pools that bet on securities prices.The SEC proposal would require fund managers with at least 15 American clients and $25 million in assets to register as an investment adviser with the SEC. Advisers would be required to give the agency information such as their names, addresses, and how much money they manage.Registration would let the SEC conduct periodic inspections of hedge funds and would require them to name chief compliance officers and develop safeguards to uncover fraud.The Managed Funds Association has fought the registration plan since it was first discussed in a September 2003 report by the SEC staff. As recently as last month, the group told the SEC in a public comment letter that the agency had no legal authority to regulate hedge funds.The association unveiled its new compromise proposal at an October 21 meeting, according to a public disclosure about the event made by Mr. Campos. Along with Mr. Gaine, hedge funds were represented at the meeting by lawyers from the Patton Boggs law firm in Washington and the Schulte Roth & Zabel firm in New York.The agenda for the meeting, prepared by the hedge fund group, called for the SEC and the industry to determine “meaningful and effective changes to the existing regulatory structure” for hedge funds.The plan suggested setting up a nine to 12-month pilot program in which hedge funds would make filings with the SEC to provide the agency with information that it needs to keep tabs on the industry. The proposal also said the funds would give the SEC some inspection rights so the agency could pursue fraud investigations.After the pilot program ended, the industry said it would support SEC passage of final hedge fund rules that “may include the current proposal in its current or modified form,” according to the agenda.Mr. Campos and Paul Roye, the head of the SEC’s investment management division who attended the Thursday meeting, didn’t return calls requesting comment.There are indications that the agency won’t accept the hedge funds’ compromise offer. Mr. Donaldson, speaking to reporters Thursday at a speech after the hedge funds offered their compromise, said the agency’s vote was on schedule. The final version of the rule will make only some technical changes to the one the SEC proposed in July on a 3-2 vote, he said.During the speech Mr. Donaldson criticized the investment partnerships for being “central figures” in the recent mutual fund trading scandal where some hedge funds were allowed to make rapid trades in and out of mutual funds, harming the returns of long-term investors.Despite the talk of a compromise, some hedge fund managers say they may test in court whether the SEC has the authority to regulate the industry.Phillip Goldstein, of Opportunity Partners LP in Pleasantville, N.Y., said he has no qualms about suing the agency if the final registration rule is similar to the SEC’s proposal.“I talked to my lawyer,” Mr. Goldstein said. “They are going to have a real fight on their hands.”

Hedge Funds Make Last-Ditch Eort to Avoid Oversight

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