Galleon founder Raj Rajaratnam and former McKinsey co-director Anil Kumar face the prospect of new charges as the Securities and Exchange Commission seeks to broaden the scope of its investigation into Galleon and other entities.

A joint taskforce for the Swiss financial services industry has approved several new measures aimed at attracting more hedge fund managers to Switzerland.

With effect from 1 April 2008 the rules on ratesliability for unoccupied premises changed. Unoccupied industrial and warehouse premises are exempt from liability for only six months from the date they became unoccupied, after which they will be charged at the full rate; whereas offices and retail property will be charged at the full rate following a three month exemption period.

A recent report by think tank Open Europe claims the EU Alternative Investment Fund Managers (AIFM) Directive will cost the hedge fund industry and hedge fund investors billions.

Hedge funds that have billions of dollars of assets tied up in the failed bank, Lehman Brothers International Europe (LBIE), received a setback last month when a judge ruled a planned scheme to distribute the assets could not be sanctioned by the court.

Public short-selling disclosure requirements ("public SSDR") will reduce short-selling in the equity markets and have "detrimental impacts" upon them by withdrawing valuable liquidity, according to a report sponsored by the Managed Funds Association.

Estate roads in new developments are generally adopted by councils at the completion of a development.

1 December 2008 sees the fifth anniversary of the introduction of the Stamp Duty Land Tax (“SDLT”) regime.

The UK’s recently-published Financial Services Bill includes amongst its many aspects a provision which would amend time-limits in respect of actions that the Financial Services Authority can bring against individuals.

As part of a new UK tax regime for offshore funds to be implemented on 1 December this year, the definition of “offshore fund” will be expanded.

The statutory dismissal procedures were abolished from 6 April 2009, and the new ACAS Code of Practice does not apply to redundancies, so what process should businesses be following to ensure a fair redundancy procedure under the new regime?

The FSA has issued a £52,500 fine and one-year ban on trading against hedge fund manager, Steven Harrison, for insider dealing. Harrison was a portfolio manager at Moore Europe Capital Management in London.

With the dramatic decline in the value of some hedge funds, increasing numbers of funds are imposing restrictions on investors seeking to exit (“redemptions”).

A leading US hedge fund manager and six co-conspirators have been charged by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with insider trading in what is believed to be biggest case ever brought for insider trading in the hedge fund industry.

Speaking to the European Parliament’s Economic and Monetary Committee (ECON) earlier this month, Charlie McCreevy, EU Commissioner for the Internal Market and Services, announced a wide-ranging consultation on hedge funds.

In a letter to members, the Swiss Funds Association (SFA) argues that Switzerland needs to reach a financial services agreement with the EU to ensure its fund industry is not excluded from the EU fund management market.

As part of its ongoing inquiry into the banking crisis, last month the Treasury Select Committee invited some of the UK’s top hedge fund managers to give evidence.

Post termination restrictive covenants are unenforceable as in restraint of trade unless the business can show it has a legitimate interest to protect and the restraint is a reasonable balancing of the parties’ interests.

Claims under some statutory employment rights must be brought within a limited period of dismissal. So clarity as to the date a dismissal takes effect is crucial.

The Directive on Alternative Investment Funds, as currently drafted, will have a damaging effect on the UK and EU hedge fund industries and should not be supported by the UK government, a House of Lords Committee has said.