Hedge Funds, Insurers Seek to Escape Stricter Rules, NYT Says

Date: Monday, June 13, 2011
Author: Dan Hart, Bloomberg

Zurich Financial Services AG (ZURN) and Citadel LLC are among insurers, hedge funds and mutual-fund companies that have tried to convince U.S. regulators that stricter oversight intended to prevent future failures doesn’t apply to them, the New York Times reported.

Other businesses that have made presentations to the Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve and other regulators include MassMutual Financial Group, Paulson & Co., D.E. Shaw & Co., Elliott Management Corp. and Caxton Associates LLC, the newspaper said, citing documents.

Jeffrey Goldstein, the Treasury undersecretary for domestic finance, has begun to ask companies before they speak if they want to be deemed “systemically important,” the Times said. He told the newspaper he couldn’t recall any of them saying “yes.”

Companies such as Boeing Co. (BA), International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) and Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) that operate large financing operations for their customers also have argued against heightened regulation, the Times said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Dan Hart in Washington at dahart@bloomberg.net.