U.S. Said to Tell Hedge Funds to Save Euro Records

Source: Bloomberg

March 3 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. is asking hedge funds not to destroy trading records on euro bets, according to a person with knowledge of the requests, as Europe and the U.S. step up scrutiny of the funds’ role in the Greek debt crisis.

The Department of Justice sent notices to save the records to at least some of the hedge funds whose executives attended a dinner hosted by New York-based research and brokerage firm Monness, Crespi, Hardt & Co. on Feb. 8, said the person, who declined to be identified because the information is private.

The European Commission said yesterday it will investigate trades in sovereign credit-default swaps in the wake of the Greek crisis, which has pushed the euro lower and prompted officials to warn hedge funds they shouldn’t try to profit from the woes of the region’s nations. One of 23 themes discussed at the Feb. 8 dinner was a wager that the euro would fall against the dollar, according to an agenda obtained by Bloomberg News.

“It is clear in the current environment, and likely for a long time going forward, any entity that profits from another’s misfortune, in this case hedge funds versus Greece and the euro zone, risks being the target of public backlash, or worse, government retaliation,” said Kirby Daley, a senior strategist in Hong Kong with Newedge Group’s prime brokerage business.


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