Hedge Fund Manager May Challenge SEC

Hedge fund manager Phillip Goldstein, known as an activist investor and critic of the Securities and Exchange Commission, said Tuesday that he might mount a new challenge to the regulator, this time over portfolio disclosure requirements.

Goldstein recently won a legal battle with the SEC over hedge fund registration.

In June, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia overturned a new SEC rule requiring many hedge fund advisors to register as investment advisors.

That ruling was on a lawsuit brought by Goldstein, whose firm, Bulldog Investors, manages about $325 million. In August, the SEC announced it would not appeal the decision.

Goldstein said his latest concern was that one of his funds had reached a size at which it would be required to disclose portfolio holdings in a so-called 13F filing with the SEC.

Money managers who oversee more than $100 million in equities are required to make the filings.

Goldstein said he likened that to giving away trade secrets. He used the analogy of a fancy restaurant reaching a certain size and its chef being required to publicly reveal the recipes.

Goldstein said he planned to ask the SEC for an exemption from the disclosure requirement. He expected it to be rejected, in which case he would go ahead with a legal challenge, he said.

An SEC spokesman declined to comment.