Hedge fund group spent $1 million lobbying in 3Q

Date: Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Author: CBS News

(AP)  WASHINGTON — A trade group representing hedge funds spent more than $1 million in the third quarter lobbying federal officials on financial regulations, including a new rule that will expand disclosure requirements for the funds.

The $1.02 million that the Managed Funds Association spent was 15 percent more than the $890,000 it spent a year earlier but slightly less than the $1.03 million it spent in this year's second quarter, according to the group's quarterly filings with the House clerk's office.

The Managed Funds Association represents hedge funds, which are lightly regulated investment pools whose participants primarily are wealthy individuals and institutions such as pension funds and endowments.

Last year's financial reforms directed the Securities and Exchange Commission to set rules requiring hedge funds to open their books for periodic SEC inspections. The SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission finalized the rules in October, along with others intended to protect investors from excessive risks. Both agencies backed off broader hedge fund requirements proposed earlier this year after the industry objected.

The rules take effect in June for funds with $5 billion or more in assets and in December 2012 for funds with less than $5 billion in assets.

According to the Managed Funds Association's Oct. 19 disclosure report, the group lobbied lawmakers on implementation of the financial overhaul, the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. It also lobbied on proposals to provide a registration exemption for private equity fund advisers, and on a measure to raise to 1,000 the minimum number of shareholders that triggers a requirement for private companies to make certain financial disclosures, up from the current 500 shareholders.

The association also lobbied on proposals intended to limit speculative investing linked to oil prices and to provide mortgage relief for unemployed homeowners.

In addition to senators and members of the House, the association lobbied the SEC, the CFTC and the Department of Treasury.