UK Hedge Fund Regulations Update and Resources

By Kulvinder Gill | Thursday, June 16th, 2011

2016 Update: You may also enjoy reading our 'A Look at the FCA's IT Outsourcing Guidance for Financial Services Firms' article HERE.

The financial crisis prompted a call to stricter regulations across the board.

As a follow up from our UK Hedge Fund Seminar and Regulations blog post about one year ago, this article will look into further changes, updates and developments to the UK regulations including mobile phone recording.

To help clarify the UK regulations, we have pulled together some resources, as well as our own Eze Castle Integration and Pershing Prime Services comprehensive report on Establishing a Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Plan, which are key components to achieve compliance with UK and US hedge fund regulations.

Let’s have a look at what the experts are saying.

Law firm Dechert LLP created a report looking at Financial Services Europe and International Update, which focuses on the regulatory developments in the European Union and the UK and certain other EU member states in the investment funds and asset management sectors.

The report looks at:

EU and Supranational Regulatory Developments
UK Regulatory Developments

Also, the City UK and The Hedge Fund Journal both have commissioned a report earlier this year.

The City UK published a report on the Regulations of Hedge Funds, May 2011 looking at Regulations of Hedge Funds in the USA and UK.

Mobile Phone Recording Requirements

Finally to help firms prepare for the FSA mobile phone recording requirement that goes into effect on 14 November 2011, Eze Castle Integration is holding a seminar in London on the topic.

For background, the removal of the current exception (COBS 11.86R (1)) to mobile phones and other handheld electronic communications devices from taping rules has two parts:

“It will require the recording and storage – for a period of six months – of all ‘relevant communications’ made with, sent from or received on mobile phones and other handheld electronic communications devices.”
It will include a “new rule requiring firms to take reasonable steps to ensure that such communications do not take place on private communication equipment that firms cannot record mainly for privacy reasons.”

You can read the FSA’s official statement on taping of mobile phones here .

Look out for more information on the UK Hedge Fund Regulations in the coming months.