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The Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission have issued a joint report identifying areas where the agencies’ regulatory schemes differ and recommending actions to address those differences, where appropriate.
In June, the White House released a white paper on financial regulatory reform calling on the CFTC and SEC to “make recommendations to Congress for changes to statutes and regulations that would harmonize regulation of futures and securities.”
The report includes 20 recommendations to enhance enforcement powers, strengthen market and intermediary oversight and improve operational coordination.
“In this report, our agencies rose above the usual challenges and
Emerging markets registered a decline in both new capital commitments and private equity investment activity during the first six months of 2009, but captured a larger share of global private equity activity than ever before.
A total of 84 emerging market funds raised USD16 billion through June, down 55% from a half-year high of USD36 billion raised by 132 funds in 2008 and a departure from the record-breaking USD66.5 billion raised in 2008, according to new research from the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association (EMPEA). Mid-year investment totals fell by 52% relative to the same period in 2008, with
Following an uptick in the second quarter, investments in US venture-backed companies have stalled in the third quarter, putting 2009 on track to be the worst investment year since 2003, according to new data from industry tracker Dow Jones VentureSource.
Venture capitalists invested USD5.1 billion in 616 deals in the third quarter of 2009, down 6% from the USD5.4 billion put into 595 deals during the second quarter of this year.
This quarter’s total is down 38% from the USD8.2 billion invested in 663 deals during the third quarter of 2008.
"The slow recovery we’ve seen for venture capital has
Investment firms NDF Administration and Defined Returns Limited, which marketed products backed by the ill-fated Lehman Brothers, were placed into administration last week. NDFA and DRL specialise in structured products for the retail market, with concerns being raised by the UK’s FSA about the adequacy of their marketing literature for investors.
Andrew Wilkins (pictured), Executive Director of Catalyst Investment Group, which specialises in the design and distribution of investments backed by alternative assets, in particular life settlements, comments: "Lehmans has cast a long shadow over the sector and there will be lingering concern in the market that NDFA is the
Kleinwort Benson’s future is secure after RHJ International (RHJI) agreed to acquire the UK and Channel Islands private bank and wealth management group from Commerzbank AG, in a cash deal worth GBP225m.
Robert Taylor, CEO of Kleinwort Benson has welcomed the conclusion of the sale process and is delighted that the historic brand is ‘here to stay’.
“From the very outset of this process, the Kleinwort Benson management team sought to identify a parent committed to the private banking and wealth management arena for the longer term, so we were delighted in the potential RHJI saw for further growth in
Billionaire hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam and five other top US company executives have been charged by the US Securities and Exchange Commission in connection with the largest ever hedge fund insider-trading scheme.
Rajaratnam, founder of the USD7bn hedge fund Galleon Group, plus two executives from hedge fund New Castle and three other top executives from IBM, McKinsey & Co and the venture capital arm of Intel Corp were charged on Friday with illegal trading in a range of companies including Google, Akamai and Hilton Hotels over a period of nearly three years.
The USD20m scheme was exposed after SEC
PPF Partners has acquired a 40% stake in Energy and Industrial Holding (EP Holding) for an undisclosed sum. EP Holding is a new group of energy and industrial companies spun off from Czech investment firm J&T Group.
The shareholding structure of the newly formed EP Holding has also been finalised today with J&T Group also participating in 40% through its private equity structures and the remaining 20% owned by Daniel Kretinsky, a former J&T Group partner, who is now fully responsible for the management of EP Holding.
EP Holding consists of more than 20 companies involved in energy power generation,
SEI’s private equity business has more than doubled in the past 18 months, as more firms adopt operational outsourcing to focus resources on core business functions.
New clients include private equity funds from Hamilton Lane and Garrison Capital Management, among others, and SEI’s private equity business now totals more than 200 funds and more than GBP15 billion.
In recent years outsourcing has gained traction in the private equity sector as closed-ended products become more prevalent and managers face pressure from investors demanding independent administration. In addition, the challenges during the market downturn have led managers to focus even more
Conversus Capital, the largest publicly traded portfolio of third party private equity funds, has reduced the management fees it pays to Conversus Asset Management (CAM), the manager of the firm’s investment portfolio.
The Conversus Independent Board of Directors has accepted CAM`s proposal to reduce its aggregate management fees by approximately 20% while the company operates under its recently announced realization strategy, which is designed to increase the confidence of investors that the value of the current portfolio will be delivered to its unit holders over time. This reduction is effective retroactively to July 1, 2009 and will result in annual
Palamon Capital Partners, one of Europe’s leading mid-market private equity firms, has appointed Owen Wilson as a Vice President.
Wilson’s appointment takes Palamon’s London-based team to 17 investment professionals. The firm, with EUR1.1 billion of equity under management, is currently investing its second Pan-European fund, Palamon European Equity II, LP.
Wilson joins Palamon from Candover, where he spent four years and was most recently a Director in the London office. Prior to this he was a consultant at Bain & Company for six years, during which time he was based mainly in London. Wilson graduated from Cambridge University with a
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