Regulator probes preferential fund prices

THE Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority (IFSRA) confirmed yesterday it was investigating claims fund managers had allowed preferred clients to get prices on trades that were better than those available to other investors.

IFSRA said it contacted approximately 20 companies active in fund management in Ireland looking for further information about the alleged practices. The authority did not name the companies it had spoken to and has found no evidence of illegal activity so far.

IFSRA’s probe is linked to an investigation in the US that began in early September. New York attorney general Eliot Spitzer alleged a number of hedge funds based in the US were using schemes to buy shares in mutual funds at prices that were not open to all investors.