In working toward greater oversight and regulation of the capital markets (which, in this case, many people in the hedge fund industry agree with), the SEC and CFTC signed a memorandum of understanding with the Federal Reserve Board on the CDS markets. Below is a release from the SEC and from the Treasury. Continue reading
Hedge Fund Investment Strategies
Long-short equity is a popular hedge fund strategy where in which the manager initiates both long and short positions in the portfolio. The exact strategy or substratgey the manager uses will be proprietary and the percentage of longs and shorts will differ with each manager. Continue reading
The SEC recently brought an action against the principal of a broker dealer for not being registered as a principal. There are many instances where members of the investment management are operating without having the proper registrations or licenses and many times these people think that they can remain under the radar as long as they aren’t acting fraudulently. In this instance the principal was not able to remain under the radar. Continue reading
The race has begun. Members of the Congress and the Senate will be jockeying for position in the new race toward hedge fund regulation. Senator Grassley announced today that he will be reintroducing a bill to require hedge fund managers to register as investment advisors with the SEC. The text of the full release can be found below. Continue reading
The following is a press release from Rothstein Kass.
HEDGE FUND MANAGERS ANTICIPATE INCREASED REGULATION UNDER NEW PRESIDENTIAL ADMINISTRATION ACCORDING TO NEW SURVEY FROM CPA FIRM ROTHSTEIN KASS
Majority of Senior Partners at U.S. Firms Expect Rising Compliance Costs Will Make Hedge Funds More Costly to Operate Continue reading
Because life settlements are a unique investment which has characteristics not associated with other types of investments creative managers can choose to structure a life settlement hedge fund in many different ways. This article will detail (i) the potential life settlement hedge fund structures, (ii) life settlement investment program considerations, and (iii) a brief overview of life settlement taxation issues. Continue reading
The Securities Act of 1933 (the “Securities Act”) is the cornerstone to the regulation of securities in the United States. The most important feature of the act is the requirement that all securities be registered or fall within an exemption from registration. This overview will detail the important provisions of the Securities Act. Continue reading
As we announced earlier, the NFA promulgated rules which were approved by the CFTC which gave the NFA jurisdiction over retail off-exchange foreign exchange trading by its member firms. What this essentially means is that if:
(i) you are currently a NFA member (e.g. you have a commodity/ futures pool or direct commodity/ futures accounts) and
(ii) you trade forex in the pool or account, or have an outside pool or account devoted to forex trading,
then you will need to update your disclosure documents with the NFA. The disclosure documents will need to contain all of the information required for non-forex disclosure documents and the update must be completed by November 30. Please see NFA to Begin Regulating Forex. Continue reading
Many life settlement hedge fund managers which establish life settlement hedge funds come from the insurance industry (although we have dealt with managers who are also registered as investment advisors). Accordingly, many managers are surprised when we discuss the issue of potential investment advisory registration. The central question is whether life settlements are securities. Continue reading
In a speech given yesterday, CFTC Chairman Walker Lukken announced that he will step down as Chairman of the CFTC upon inauguration of President-elect Obama. Chairman Lukken also advocated completely the scrapping of the current regulatory structure in favor of a “bold, new” regulatory system. It is unclear how these comments will be interpreted by the CFTC, especially with regard to the release of the proposed forex registration rules. Continue reading