Grassley calls for hedge fund registration

The ranking minority member of the Senate Finance Committee today introduced legislation that would require hedge fund advisers to register with the Securities and Exchange Commission. “The goal of my initiative is to make our financial markets more transparent,” said Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, in a statement. Mr. Grassley said Congress needs to act because the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals last year overturned a regulation imposed by the Securities and Exchange Commission requiring hedge funds to register. The federal courts said the Securities and Exchange was going beyond its statutory authority. Sen. Grassley cited the failure of large hedge funds, such as Amaranth Advisors LLC of Greenwich, Conn., and the need for SEC and self-regulatory organization oversight to protect against institutional insider trading and other abuses as a reason why the funds should be regulated more closely. Hedge funds control more than $1.2 trillion in assets.