Abiao25
06-02-2008, 11:27 PM
SK Holdings Company Ltd:Activist investor tool threatened Industry worries that equity swaps may have to be disclosed more
The news was brought by the Barbara of SK Holdings Company Ltd
Positions built in a company using equity swaps, a type of derivative that's tied to stock prices, may face tougher disclosure requirements if a ruling by a judge in New York goes the way the hedge fund industry fears later this month.
Activist hedge funds, lawyers representing the industry and a leading derivatives industry group worry that such a ruling would make it more difficult to influence the strategy and management of underperforming companies. It may also restrain the growth of the $10 trillion equity derivatives market.
Others say a change may be good because it would increase transparency, letting companies and the rest of the market know who is investing in what.
"It's a case that the industry is watching closely," said Barry Barbash, a partner at law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP and former director of the Securities and Exchange Commission's Division of Investment Management.
"Some clients would see it having a negative effect on capital markets by making it more difficult to build a position in a company for the purposes of influencing the strategy and management of the business," he added. "The people for whom this will mean the most are activist investors."
The SEC declined to comment.
continue.... (http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/activist-tool-threatened-judge-weighs/story.aspx?guid=%7B53D0024F%2D5A4A%2D493D%2D9EF9%2 D2A788FF9135F%7D&dist=msr_1)
The news was brought by the Barbara of SK Holdings Company Ltd
Positions built in a company using equity swaps, a type of derivative that's tied to stock prices, may face tougher disclosure requirements if a ruling by a judge in New York goes the way the hedge fund industry fears later this month.
Activist hedge funds, lawyers representing the industry and a leading derivatives industry group worry that such a ruling would make it more difficult to influence the strategy and management of underperforming companies. It may also restrain the growth of the $10 trillion equity derivatives market.
Others say a change may be good because it would increase transparency, letting companies and the rest of the market know who is investing in what.
"It's a case that the industry is watching closely," said Barry Barbash, a partner at law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP and former director of the Securities and Exchange Commission's Division of Investment Management.
"Some clients would see it having a negative effect on capital markets by making it more difficult to build a position in a company for the purposes of influencing the strategy and management of the business," he added. "The people for whom this will mean the most are activist investors."
The SEC declined to comment.
continue.... (http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/activist-tool-threatened-judge-weighs/story.aspx?guid=%7B53D0024F%2D5A4A%2D493D%2D9EF9%2 D2A788FF9135F%7D&dist=msr_1)