Jim Chanos, renowned short-seller and president of New York hedge fund, Kynikos Associates, is expected to launch a lobbying firm to represent the industry as it faces calls for increased regulation.
The Financial Times reported that the Coalition of Private Investment Companies, (CPIC), will primarily seek to educate and inform policy makers and regulators about the role hedge funds play in the investment community.
Chanos is well known in Washington for his support of Democratic candidates and for his testimony against Enron for inflating company value.
Andrew Lowenthal of Porterfield & Lowenthal, a lobby group recently formed by two Senate staffers, will lead the daily operations, the Times reported. The group aims to represent the interests of certain Wall Street groups.
United States regulators are closely examining the best way to regulate hedge funds as a small number of funds have gained negative publicity because of fraud.
“The hedge fund industry fails to understand that it’s the next whipping boy,” the group said at a press conference last week. “We don’t want to be pounded on the hedge with new regulation in the event of some financial blow-up.”