New legislation attempts to regulate hedge funds

Draft legislation aims to impose government oversight on hedge funds

WASHINGTON, DC - New legislation filed by senator Carl Levin and senator Charles Grassley aims to impose government oversight of hedge funds. The proposal was filed as the Obama administration was preparing a broader legislative overhaul of the regulatory system, which is also expected to include measures to more tightly regulate hedge funds. State regulators and the Congressional Oversight Panel, created by Congress to oversee the Troubled Assets Relief Program, issued separate but similar regulatory proposals on January 29.

Senator Christopher Dodd, head of the Senate banking committee, is planning a sweeping round of hearings in February that will focus on the need to more tightly regulate the financial markets and will feature testimonies from Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, and Paul Volcker, a former Fed chairman who is an adviser to President Obama.

The regulatory overhaul is one piece of the administration's effort to restore confidence in the financial system, which it expects to complete before the meeting of the G-20 nations in London on April 2.