Bloomberg's downright silly "SAC's Money Market Lesson" writes, "Bloomberg News reports that investors in SAC Capital, the $14 billion hedge fund recently indicted for encouraging insider trading, want to get their money out as soon as possible. They are worried that their funds might be seized by the government. However, SAC Capital is under no obligation to return investors' money before the end of the year because of a common hedge-fund practice known as "gating." Investors in money-market mutual funds may soon be at risk for similar treatment. At least, that is the plan favored by the industry, which the Securities and Exchange Commission cautiously endorsed as one option in June. If the rule becomes official, a fund facing mass withdrawals could temporarily deny investors their money, or impose steep redemption fees. (For finance-history geeks, this would be very similar to what banks used to do in the days before the creation of the Federal Reserve and deposit insurance: "suspension of convertability.")" See also, FT's "US money funds see value in European banks" from last week.
