No surprise here. The Bush administration has rejected any oversight of the trillion dollar hedge fund industry:
The Bush administration said Thursday that there was no need for greater government oversight of the rapidly growing hedge fund industry and other private investment groups to protect the nation’s financial system.
Instead, the administration, in an agreement it reached with the independent regulatory agencies, announced that investors, hedge fund companies and their lenders could adequately take care of themselves by adhering to a set of nonbinding principles.
Every policy put forward by the Bush administration since 2001 has been made to benefit the wealthy investor class which invests in and manages these unregulated hedge funds.
The working group rejected any proposal that would give the government the ability to inspect the books and records of hedge funds or force the funds to make regular reports about their activities.
This is a dangerous and reckless policy which puts the US once again on a collision course with Europe. Especially in Germany, where hedge funds are known as Heuschrecken (locusts) because these funds tend to acquire enterprises and strip out the assets and employees, there has been a call for greater transparency. Angela Merkel mentioned the risks of hedge funds in her keynote address recently at the Davos forum. Chancellor Merkel has an ally here in France, where Nicolas Sarkozy has criticized the activities of hedge funds and has threatened to impose punitive taxes.
UPDATE: Attack of the Giant Locusts - right in Bush's back yard! Great news for Bush's cronies and the coal producers; bad news for the ratepayers in Texas and the ozone layer.
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