Hedge Funds, Leverage, and the Lessons of Long-Term Capital Management
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Hedge Funds, Leverage, and the Lessons of Long-Term Capital Management Report of The President’s Working Group on Financial Markets Board of Governors of the Securities and Department of Federal Reserve Exchange Commodity Futures the Treasury System Commission Trading Commission April 1999 April 28, 1999 The Honorable J. Dennis Hastert The Speaker United States House of Representatives Washington, D.C. 20515 Dear Mr. Speaker: We are pleased to transmit the report of the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets on Hedge Funds, Leverage, and the Lessons of Long-Term Capital Management (LTCM). The principal policy issue arising out of the events surrounding the near collapse of LTCM is how to constrain excessive leverage. By increasing the chance that problems at one financial institution could be transmitted to other institutions, excessive leverage can increase the likelihood of a general breakdown in the functioning of financial markets. This issue is not limited to hedge funds; other financial institutions are often larger and more highly leveraged than most hedge funds. In view of our findings, the Working Group recommends a number of measures designed to constrain excessive leverage. These measures are designed to improve transparency in the system, enhance private sector risk management practices, develop more risk-sensitive approaches to capital adequacy, support financial contract netting in the event of bankruptcy, and encourage offshore financial centers to comply with international standards. The LTCM incident highlights a number of tax issues with respect to hedge funds, including the tax treatment of total return equity swaps and the use of offshore financial centers. These issues, however, are beyond the scope of this report and are being addressed separately by Treasury. A number of other federal agencies were full participants in this study and support its conclusions and recommendations: the Council of Economic Advisers, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Economic Council, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Office of Thrift Supervision. We are grateful for their extensive assistance. page 2 We appreciate the opportunity to convey this report to you, and we look forward to continuing to work with you on these important issues. Sincerely, (signed) (signed) Robert E. Rubin Alan Greenspan Secretary Chairman Department of the Treasury Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve (signed) (signed) Arthur Levitt Brooksley Born Chairman Chairperson Securities and Exchange Commission Commodity Futures Trading Commission April 28, 1999 The Honorable Al Gore President of the Senate United States Senate Washington, D.C. 20510 Dear Mr. President: We are pleased to transmit the report of the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets on Hedge Funds, Leverage, and the Lessons of Long-Term Capital Management (LTCM). The principal policy issue arising out of the events surrounding the near collapse of LTCM is how to constrain excessive leverage. By increasing the chance that problems at one financial institution could be transmitted to other institutions, excessive leverage can increase the likelihood of a general breakdown in the functioning of financial markets. This issue is not limited to hedge funds; other financial institutions are often larger and more highly leveraged than most hedge funds. In view of our findings, the Working Group recommends a number of measures designed to constrain excessive leverage. These measures are designed to improve transparency in the system, enhance private sector risk management practices, develop more risk-sensitive approaches to capital adequacy, support financial contract netting in the event of bankruptcy, and encourage offshore financial centers to comply with international standards. The LTCM incident highlights a number of tax issues with respect to hedge funds, including the tax treatment of total return equity swaps and the use of offshore financial centers. These issues, however, are beyond the scope of this report and are being addressed separately by Treasury. A number of other federal agencies were full participants in this study and support its conclusions and recommendations: the Council of Economic Advisers, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the National Economic Council, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Office of Thrift Supervision. We are grateful for their extensive assistance. page 2 We appreciate the opportunity to convey this report to you, and we look forward to continuing to work with you on these important issues. Sincerely, (signed) (signed) Robert E. Rubin Alan Greenspan Secretary Chairman Department of the Treasury Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve (signed) (signed) Arthur Levitt Brooksley Born Chairman Chairperson Securities and Exchange Commission Commodity Futures Trading Commission TABLE OF CONTENTS Page EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................. viii I. BACKGROUND ......................................................... 1 Hedge Funds ......................................................... 1 A. General Description ........................................... 1 B. Trading Practices ............................................. 4 C. Disclosure and Monitoring ...................................... 6 D. Counterparty and Credit Relationships ............................. 6 The LTCM Episode ................................................... 10 A. Background ................................................ 10 B. LTCM’s Near Failure ......................................... 12 C. The LTCM Fund Achieved Extraordinary Levels of Leverage and Risk .... 14 D. Counterparty Losses and Market Disruptions That May Have Resulted from a Default of LTCM ......................................... 17 II. PUBLIC POLICY ISSUES ................................................ 23 Leverage and Risk .................................................... 23 A. Measuring Leverage and Risk ................................... 24 B. Private Counterparty Discipline and Government Regulation ............ 25 Bankruptcy Issues .................................................... 26 A. Closeout Netting ............................................. 26 B. Transnational Issues .......................................... 27 III. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ............................... 29 1. Disclosure and Reporting ............................................ 32 2. Supervisory Oversight ............................................... 34 3. Enhanced Private Sector Practices for Counterparty Risk Management .......... 36 4. Capital Adequacy .................................................. 37 5. Expanded Risk Assessment for the Unregulated Affiliates of Broker-Dealers and Futures Commission Merchants .................................... 38 6. Bankruptcy Code Issues ............................................. 40 7. Offshore Financial Centers and Tax Havens ............................... 41 8. Additional Potential Steps ............................................ 42 APPENDIX A: ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON HEDGE FUNDS 1. Hedge Fund Performance Fees, Leverage, and Short-term Outlook ............ A-1 2. Hedge Fund Performance and Survival ................................. A-3 3. Market Impact, Positive and Negative .................................. A-5 APPENDIX B: THE SEC AND HEDGE FUNDS 1. Exemptions from Securities Laws ..................................... B-1 2. Oversight of Broker-Dealer Exposure .................................. B-4 3. Management of Clearing Risks ...................................... B-12 4. Other Issues Raised by LTCM ....................................... B-13 APPENDIX C: THE CFTC AND HEDGE FUNDS 1. Description of CPO and CTA Regulation ............................... C-1 2. Reporting of Exchange-Traded Commodity Positions ...................... C-5 3. Oversight of FCM Exposure to Hedge Funds ............................ C-7 4. Management of Clearance Risks ..................................... C-10 5. LTCM and U.S. Futures Markets .................................... C-12 6. CFTC Analysis of Hedge Fund Data .................................. C-12 7. Conclusion ..................................................... C-15 APPENDIX D: THE SUPERVISION OF BANK EXPOSURE TO HEDGE FUNDS 1. Commercial Bank Relationships with Hedge Funds ........................ D-1 2. Supervision of Bank Credit Exposures to Hedge Funds ..................... D-1 3. Credit Risk Management Issues ...................................... D-12 APPENDIX E: BANKRUPTCY ISSUES 1. Background ..................................................... E-1 2. The U.S. Legal Framework’s Treatment of Derivative Contracts in Insolvencies .. E-2 3. Practical Application of the Bankruptcy Code to a Hedge Fund Failure ......... E-5 APPENDIX F: VOLUNTARY INDUSTRY INITIATIVES 1. The Derivatives Policy Group Initiative ................................. F-1 2. The Counterparty Risk Management Policy Group Initiative ................. F-3 3. International Centralized Credit Database ............................... F-4 4. International Swaps and Derivatives Association 1999 Collateral Review ....... F-5 APPENDIX G: SUPERVISORY EFFORTS AND STATEMENTS POST-LTCM 1. Basle Committee on Banking Supervision ............................... G-1 2. International Organization of Securities Commissions ...................... G-1 3. G-7 Finance