Lars Nyberg: Are hedge funds dangerous? Speech by Mr Lars Nyberg, Deputy Governor of the Sveriges Riksbank, at a meeting at Nordea and the CFA Society of Sweden, Stockholm, 24 November 2006. *  *  *  I shall begin by thanking you for the invitation to come here to Nordea and the CFA Society of Sweden to develop some thoughts on the usefulness and risks with hedge funds. After several years of strong growth, hedge funds are a hot topic among market agents and authorities. Although hedge funds’ percentage of the total capital managed is small, around five per cent, they account for a large part of the liquidity on certain markets. Many people express concern as to what effects hedge funds might have on financial stability and after the much-publicised collapse of the US hedge fund Amaranth in the autumn, the debate on regulation has gained new impetus. As you may perhaps know, Amaranth primarily traded various gas and energy derivatives. After summer 2005, Amaranth held gigantic positions in the gas market – they believed in a price increase. Between August and October 2005 the price of natural gas rose by 50 per cent, partly as a result of the severe hurricanes. The fund earned substantial amounts of money and the fund managers were also expecting this autumn to see high energy prices during the winter. They bought futures for November and March and sold (sold short) contracts for October and April. However, this year did not develop as expected.
Mohamed S Fofana: Sierra Leone Stock Exchange – developing the country’s financial sector Opening remarks by Mohamed S Fofana, Deputy Governor of the Bank of Sierra Leone and Chairman of the Stock Exchange Technical Committee, at the inauguration ceremony of the Sierra Leone Interim Stock Exchange, Freetown, 27 July 2007. *  *  *  Your Excellency, the President Honourable Vice President My Lord Chief Justice Your Excellencies, Members of the Diplomatic Corp Hon Minister of Finance Other Cabinet Ministers Mr Governor Mr Secretary to the President and other senior civil servants Heads of Financial Institutions Colleague SETC members Distinguished Members of the Private Sector Ladies and Gentlemen It is my singular privilege and honour to chair this occasion. I must confess that I only agreed to perform this function under pressure from my colleagues of the Stock Exchange Technical Committee, who insisted that as chair of that Committee, I am under obligation to chair this ceremony. My personal inclination was that some more distinguished personality than myself should assume this role. It is not common that such a galaxy of distinguished personalities would converge on the Bank. When this happens, it is a clear indication that something out of the ordinary is in the offing, as is clearly the case today. Your Excellency, the inauguration of the Sierra Leone Stock Exchange, which you are about to perform, is a unique occasion in every sense.