MANILA, Philippines, March 26 (UPI) -- Hedge funds are becoming of increasing interest to investors in Asia as well as the United States and Europe.
On Monday the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum kicked off a weeklong forum on hedge funds and collective investment schemes, with about 40 securities regulators from the region taking part under the backing of the Asian Development Bank.
"It is important to strengthen financial regulation in the region through these cost-effective programs for bank supervisors and securities regulators," said Min Tang, deputy country director and chief economist at the ADB's Beijing office.
In recent months U.S. lawmakers in particular have been paying more attention to hedge funds, which often have considerable influence in the global political economy, and yet their operations are usually shrouded in mystery as their business has not come under as stringent transparency rules as private banks or securities companies.
The APEC forum concludes March 30.
