Ottawa committee to study hedge fund industry

Date: Wednesday, November 1, 2006
Author: Simon Tuck, Globe and Mail

A parliamentary committee will today begin studying the hedge fund industry, just a few weeks after a private sector task force proposed new regulations that would make the higher-risk funds more accessible to retail investors. The Senate banking, trade and commerce committee will have at least two days of hearings into hedge funds with appearances by representatives from the Ontario and Quebec securities regulators. Senator Jerry Grafstein, the committee's chairman, said the move was made after committee members travelled recently to New York to meet with U.S. regulators and officials in the financial services sector. "Hedge funds are a bet, a high-risk bet," Senator Grafstein said yesterday during an interview.