Would Hedge Fund Regulation Mitigate Systemic Risk? Direct vs. Indirect Regulation Approach

Abstract

This paper presents the direct vs. indirect debate of hedge fund regulation and attempts to find which approach is better able to mitigate systemic risk that the industry poses to the economy. The waves of regulatory reforms and enhanced concern regarding investors protection have recently brought attention of the regulators to hedge fund regulation issue. But, many academics fear that direct intervention may limit industry growth and benefit. Addressing these concerns, this paper observes the systemic importance of hedge fund industry based on four criteria’s [size, leverage, interconnectedness to large complex financial institutions (LCFIs) and herding] and concludes that although this industry is still small in terms of size and leverage, their interconnectivity with LCFIs and potential herding make them systemically significant. Hence, regulation of hedge fund is necessary to restrict the transmission of systemic events. Analysing direct and indirect approaches, this paper suggests that the counterparties are best positioned to implement this regulatory change.