SEC proposes loosened restrictions on pre-IPO 'quiet period,' adopts new oversight for hedge funds

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SEC proposes loosened restrictions on pre-IPO 'quiet period,' adopts new oversight for hedge funds

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By MARCY GORDON

AP Business Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Federal regulators proposed Tuesday to loosen restrictions on executives' comments in the weeks before their company goes public in a stock sale, a move that could bring the first significant changes in 70 years to a traditional fixture known as the quiet period.

At the same meeting, the Securities and Exchange Commission voted in a split decision to mandate new oversight for hedge funds -- largely unregulated investment pools traditionally for the wealthy that have become popular with small investors in recent years.

The high-risk, potentially high-return funds have an estimated $750 billion to $1 trillion in assets and are growing. Oversight is needed to head off potential blowups that could hurt ordinary investors, SEC officials say.