Hedge Funds' Secret Ties to Pollsters Examined by U.K. Regulator
- FCA weighing whether private polls can lead to market abuse
- British lawmaker Nicky Morgan calling for greater oversight
The U.K.’s financial watchdog is examining whether secret relationships between polling companies and hedge funds, especially the sale of market-moving exit polls and voter-opinion data, could violate market-abuse prohibitions.
While the Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate pollsters, it “will take appropriate action, including investigating and prosecuting alleged offenders,” when it suspects market abuse may have been committed, Chief Executive Officer Andrew Bailey said. “In our view, any person holding information that is not in the public domain should be mindful that such information could be inside information for the purposes of the market abuse regime.”