Written by Michael Wu The Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (the “Directive”) establishes a regulatory regime for all alternative fund managers, such as private equity and hedge fund managers, that are based in the European Union (the “EU”), manage funds based in the EU and market non-EU fund interests in…
Written by Michael Wu On November 11, 2010, the European Parliament adopted the EU Directive on Alternative Investment Fund Managers (the “Directive”). The Directive will affect a significant number of alternative investment fund managers (“AIFMs”) that manage and/or market alternative investment funds (“Funds”), including hedge funds, commodity funds, private equity…
Written by Jay Gould On March 10, 2010, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) adopted amendments to Rule 201 and Rule 200(g) of Regulation SHO (“Rules”). In order to give certain exchanges additional time to modify current procedures for conducting single-priced transactions for covered securities that have triggered Rule 201’s…
According to the Wall Street Journal, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission has sent subpoenas to hedge funds and other large natural gas traders seeking information regarding trading activity in natural gas derivatives. The subpoenas request information regarding trading activity in 2008 and 2009, a period during which natural gas prices…
The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Asset Management Unit has been investigating whether hedge fund managers have overvalued assets in “side pockets” and then charged investors higher fees based on those inflated values. A side pocket is a type of account that hedge funds use to separate certain illiquid investments from…
On September 22, 2010, the Managed Funds Association submitted initial comments to the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on regulatory topics under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The MFA’s comments reflected concerns that the broad wording of the Dodd-Frank Act would result in…
Bloomberg reports that the SEC is engaged in a probe of investment advisers who invest client assets in hedge funds, funds of funds, private equity, venture capital and other alternative investments. The SEC’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations has recently requested that advisers provide extensive information about their alternative…
Earlier this year the SEC staff commenced a review to evaluate the use of derivatives by mutual funds, exchange-traded funds and other investment companies, including, among other things, whether existing prospectus disclosures adequately address the particular risks created by derivatives. In a July 30, 2010 letter to the Investment Company…