WASHINGTON – A fresh move by the hedge fund industry to improve its public image and raise its standards came in early November when the Managed Funds Association (MFA), published a new version of its sound practices recommendations for hedge fund managers. This is the latest in a series of initiatives to address concerns about the financial impact and operational risk management of an industry that is still largely unregulated in the US and some other countries.

HONG KONG – Senior management of banks in Asia must take the lead in improving data quality in the context of the Basel II bank safety rules, a top Hong Kong regulator said in October.

LONDON – A UK-based study group has found no “silver bullets” that could rapidly increase the choice of audit firms available to companies at a proportionate cost whilst maintaining audit quality.

BRUSSELS – The role of the so-called Level 3 committees in Europe’s Lamfalussy process for expediting financial regulation needs to be strengthened, says a final report by a group of experts on the process.

WASHINGTON – Regulatory gaps and fissures revealed by recent financial market turmoil underscore the necessity of the US Treasury’s regulatory blueprint initiative involving a comprehensive review of America’s financial regulation, according to a top Treasury official.

IAIS continues its work on a global framework for insurance supervision. Three solvency papers are issued

European firms listing on US stock markets are not using EU reporting variations as entitled, which seems to support SEC plans to scrap reconciliation Writes David Keefe

Mutual recognition would enable both host and home supervisors to recognise the quality of regulation and supervision in each other’s jurisdiction and thus to remove or reduce unnecessary rules, says a discussion paper* issued in October by the IAIS.

As momentum builds for a single set of world accounting rules, attention’s turning to who shall monitor the rule-makers. Moves to reform key trustee body By David Keefe

Moving to a new standard for measuring the value of insurance contracts would be taxing for US firms and require a major educational effort, according to credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s.