News
Treasury Proposal May Mean New Push for Hedge Fund BSA Requirements, Say Consultants
By Matt Squire
printPlans by the U.S. Treasury Department to revamp regulatory oversight of financial institutions will likely spur on efforts to impose anti-money laundering compliance requirements on hedge funds, say consultants. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner unveiled a proposal Thursday that would put greater regulatory restrictions on over-the-counter derivatives, money market funds and hedge funds. Geithner also called for systemic oversight powers to be granted to a single regulator and more stringent capital requirements for some institutions. The proposal, which stops short of requiring hedge funds to develop Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) programs, would mandate that the funds register with the U.S. Securities...
TO READ THE FULL STORY
Subscribe
Learn More
Related News
Ahead of expected anti-money laundering regulations for investment advisers, some private equity firms may find themselves subject to such oversight for a reason few would have guessed: their fee structures.
Over 11,000 investment advisers could be subject to compliance examinations by one or more self-regulatory organizations, under a measure considered by lawmakers Wednesday.
The U.S. Treasury Department's financial intelligence unit will reintroduce a plan to subject investment advisers to Bank Secrecy Act compliance duties three years after abandoning a similar proposal, an official said Tuesday.
It took over a year of negotiations but plans to impose EU anti-money laundering rules on U.S. hedge funds and private equity firms have officially been dropped, according to a European directive adopted Thursday.
A European Union financial reform bill scheduled for a vote Monday could impose new anti-money laundering requirements on offshore investment vehicles, including U.S. hedge funds, say analysts.
The Obama administration Wednesday released proposed legislation detailing new financial compliance and recordkeeping requirements for hedge, private equity and venture capital funds.
A lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase by a Florida investment firm that lost $12.8 million to convicted hedge fund manager Bernard Madoff could mean more regulatory scrutiny for the bank.
In the rush to better regulate the anti-crime controls of financial firms, international authorities may be ignoring a rarely abused but highly lucrative financial instrument: private equity funds.
Financial regulation is in the early stages of undergoing its biggest change since the passage of the U.S. Patriot Act, according to Mike Flowers, a former counsel for the U.S. Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations.
Hedge fund lobbyists increased their spending by over 700 percent between 2006 and 2008 in an effort to stave off stricter oversight, according to data provided by a non-partisan research group.
Senate lawmakers introduced a bill Thursday that would require hedge funds to implement anti-money laundering controls and answer to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
New Year's Eve may have come and gone and all of the post-celebration headaches faded, but financial institutions are going to need many more months to recover from 2008.
U.S. lawmakers will likely vote to implement anti-money laundering and other controls on hedge funds in the wake of the alleged multi-billion dollar Ponzi scheme by Bernard Madoff, say consultants.
Almost a quarter of investment management companies do not have means to monitor the transactions they handle for suspicious activity, including fraud and money laundering, according to a survey by Deloitte.
Hedge funds are fast becoming a top destination for fraudsters and money launderers, experts say.
More than five years after regulators proposed that hedge funds be subjected to anti-money laundering standards, compliance experts in Washington, D.C., say the initiative will continue to gather dust as regulators shift their priorities toward the capital crisis and other regulatory issues.
The U.S. Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network proposed anti-money laundering rules that have remained dormant for nearly five years.