Compliance

If it isn’t enough that federal regulators are looking into whether the managers of two failed Bear Stearns hedge funds, Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin, misled investors into staying with the risky investments as they were tanking, they are now probing whether they inflated the funds’ returns and outlook to obtain loans from banks or prime custodians, BusinessWeek reports.

The Alternative Investment Management Association of the U.K. is about to launch a third set of codes for hedge funds-of-funds, on the heels of two other sets of best practices issued in the last 18 months.

On Wednesday morning, hedge fund fugitive Samuel Israel III surrendered himself to law enforcement officials in Southwick, Mass. Israel has been on the run since June 9, when he was set to report to prison in Ayres, Mass. His car was found that day on a Westchester County, N.Y., bridge with the words “suicide is painless” written on the hood.

After completing his service as chief information office on June 30, Corey Booth parted ways with the Securities and Exchange Commission in order to pursue a new career with Boston Consulting Group in New York.

This week, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission decided that effective Aug. 1, mutual fund advertisements will no longer need to be pre-approved.

NEW YORK - The freewheeling days for hedge funds may be numbered.

WASHINGTON - Volatile market conditions and the credit crisis have put the hard brakes on new hedge funds. The number of hedge funds launched in the first quarter was the lowest for a quarter since 2000, while fund liquidations increased from a year earlier.

"I cheated my investors because I was afraid to admit my failure. I did not want the world to think I was not good enough and I did not want my family to see me as a failure."

Cash-strapped banks are hoping the Federal Reserve will loosen restrictions keeping private-equity firms from giving them capital, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Gavin charged UBS AG's UBS Securities, LLC and UBS Financial Services with fraud and dishonest conduct regarding the firms’ retail sales of auction-rate securities.

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox announced this week that the SEC will be conducting an internal inquiry into the structure of its current disclosure system, creating a “fundamental rethinking of financial disclosure.”

When things start to go bad in the stock market or the economy in general, previously ignored things like mutual fund fees can suddenly irk investors.

Plans are currently underway to create a new commodities exchange in Hong Kong, potentially giving China a larger role in setting the world’s petroleum prices and adding to the reputation it craves as a global, economic powerhouse.

In light of the crisis of confidence in rating agencies following the subprime crisis, the Securities and Exchange Commission will diminish the importance of money market fund managers’ reliance on such agencies when investing in short-term debt.

The recent mortgage market crisis has opened a Pandora's box of white-collar cases probed by the U.S. attorney’s Eastern District office.

When an employee leaves a firm, can they take their client list with them to their new job?

The Supreme Court’s recent decision in LaRue v DeWolff to permit workers in 401(k) plans to sue administrators for high fees will inevitably lead to lower fees—and the end of the retail mutual fund industry’s dominance of the market. That’s the strong opinion of widely quoted, and frequent financial TV guest Ric Edelman.

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced Thursday that it would be releasing $103 million to investors who have lost money involving Banc of America Capital Management LLC (BACAP) and affiliates’ illegal and unethical activities.

As the tax debate begins between Senator Barack Obama and Senator John McCain, many investors and tax advisors say capital gains taxes will increase no matter what the outcome is this coming November, The Wall Street Journal reports. Senator Obama seeks to increase the current capital gains rate 5% or more for families making over $250,000.

Boston-based Eaton Vance Management has just received a no-action letter from the SEC that will permit it to provide a new auction-rate security known as Liquidity Protected Preferred Shares, The Wall Street Journal reports.