FORT WORTH, Texas (HedgeWorld.com)–William H. Donaldson kept up the drumbeat for hedge fund regulation over the weekend, telling a conference of business editors and writers on Sunday [May 2] that hedge funds are “an accident waiting to happen.”
Mr. Donaldson, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, said the SEC needs the increased oversight that greater regulation of hedge fund managers would provide in order to learn more about the industry.
One published report indicated rules regulating hedge funds could be proposed as soon as this month.
SEC officials said no text of Mr. Donaldson’s speech was available. Officials with the Society of Business Editors and Writers, which held the conference, did not return calls seeking additional information by press time.
Reports on wire services and in local newspapers indicated Mr. Donaldson sees hedge fund regulation as the only way the SEC can effectively protect hedge fund investors, who comprise a much larger group than merely the ultra-wealthy. Mr. Donaldson has been hammering home this point since September, when the commission released a report on the growth of the hedge fund industry. Among the recommendations in the report was requiring hedge fund managers to register as investment advisers with the SEC.
In recent speeches, Mr. Donaldson has portrayed hedge funds as available to everyday investors via corporate and public pension funds, a growing number of which now invest in hedge funds.