Reuters – Compliance regulations couldn’t get any more press coverage than they do today, given the almost daily raft of new SEC and Treasury rules. Putting the proposed and actual laws aside, however, have you ever stopped to wonder what the backbone of compliance law is?
The answer is the US Sentencing Guidelines, which were enacted in 1991 and later amended in 2004. These Guidelines set forth the sentencing recommendations for a variety of criminal offenses, including those for “organizations,” such as a hedge fund. Thus, if a hedge fund is convicted of engaging in criminal conduct, the court looks to these Sentencing Guidelines for a recommendation on penalties.
