Merkel drafting hedge fund code of conduct - report Tue, Dec 18 2007, 17:43 GMT http://www.afxnews.com BERLIN (Thomson Financial) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel is working with French and British counterparts to create a set of non-binding rules for hedge fund operators, a press report said today. "We are working on a self-regulation project for the hedge fund sector. I will present a set of proposals with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy before the spring," Merkel told Capital magazine in an interview due to be published on Thursday. "There is no doubt that we need to find a new balance on the financial markets between liberty and regulation," she added. Merkel has repeatedly called for a code of conduct to govern hedge funds in the wake of widespread turmoil on credit markets caused by a crisis in speculative investments in risky US home loans. But the call has found little favour with Berlin's partners in the Group of Eight most industrialised nations, notably in Anglo-Saxon countries where a large number of the funds are based. tf.TFN-Europe_newsdesk@thomson.com afp\cmr/slj http://www.fxstreet.com/news/forex-news/article.aspx?StoryId=0a90687b-d660-4a11-be35-f71f767f2ef8
The hedge fund world is sleazier... Than any other sector of the Securities Business. It's virtually unregulated. Fraud is child's play. But a basic business principle is: ** Rich People and Industry Players... Do not have to be protected by government regulation **. Why? (1) Rich People or Players are much more sophisticated. (2) Rich People and Players can afford a good Law Firm... and a protracted legal battle. You can't properly regulate offshore entities anyway... You can't even regulate US corporations (see Enron, etc). So why bother? What is the REAL game?