U.S. Chamber: President's Working Group Reports Set Industry Standards for Hedge Funds and Institutional Investors

WASHINGTON, D.C.-The U.S. Chamber of Commerce today called a set of best practices for the hedge fund industry released by the President's Working Group on Financial Markets (PWG) good for protecting investors and safeguarding against systemic abuses.

"Hedge funds provide liquidity to financial markets, which reduces financing costs for businesses and enhances overall economic growth," said David Hirschmann, president and CEO of the United States Chamber of Commerce's Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness. "They are a growing and important investment vehicle for institutional and sophisticated investors. "These reports are a key step in further enhancing industry standards for increasing investor transparency, maintaining healthy markets, and keeping the U.S. globally competitive."

The Chamber welcomed the PWG's effort to provide greater transparency to the markets and believes that it will provide better disclosure to the investment community, enhanced risk management tools, and greater assurance that systemic risks are better understood and managed.

Last September the PWG formed two committees to develop a dialogue on industry issues and develop best practices to strengthen market discipline. The Asset Manager's Committee was formed to provide an information portal between the alternative asset management community and the agencies comprising the PWG. The Investor's Committee is comprised of representatives from labor organizations, endowments, investment consultants, and pension funds.

"While no set of standards will resolve every aspect of this important policy debate, we continue to support all legitimate means to strengthen our capital markets, address systemic risks, prevent and eliminate fraud, and provide greater transparency to investors," continued Hirschmann. "We will review the detailed proposals and provide additional suggestions during the comment process."

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the world's largest business federation representing more than 3 million businesses and organizations of every size, sector, and region.

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