Best Practices For The Hedge Fund Industry

The ongoing stress being experienced by global financial markets and the well publicised collapse of investment giant Lehman Brothers should provide the right impetus for Asian hedge fund managers to acquaint themselves with a report titled "Best Practices for the Hedge Fund Industry" (the "Report").¹ The Report released in April this year by the Asset Managers' Committee of the President's Working Group on Financial Markets is an attempt to provide guidance and promote robust business practices and accountability to the largely unregulated hedge fund industry which has become an increasingly important participant in global markets with an estimated $2 trillion in assets under management. Such is the size and impact of hedge funds on global markets that many financial regulators worldwide late last week temporarily banned all 'short selling' - a tool in trade for most hedge fund managers.