US hedge fund Citadel Investment Group is planning an opportunistic bid for UK rail operator GNER, hoping to acquire the group cheaply because of debt problems at its Bermuda-based owner, Sea Containers, the Sunday Express reported without citing sources.

The number of new European hedge funds launched jumped nearly 15 percent in the first half of this year and hit record levels, information provider HedgeFund Intelligence said on Wednesday.

A second fund of hedge funds is expected to float on the London Stock Exchange this week, giving retail investors further exposure to the high stakes industry.

About 10 hedge fund advisers have pulled their registrations with the Securities and Exchange Commission, an SEC spokesman said on Friday, a month after a court threw out an SEC rule requiring hedge fund advisers to register.

British holiday firm MyTravel Group Plc is being stalked by U.S. hedge fund Pardus Capital, who has acquired a 4 percent stake in owner of Going Places travel agents, the Times reported on Monday.

The Senate banking committee, which has oversees the SEC, announced yesterday that it will hold a hearing on July 25th to discuss hedge fund regulation. There are no details yet available and the witness list has not yet been published.

Investment research provider Morningstar is to take over the institutional hedge fund database of InvestorForce, a US-based financial software company, in a deal that will create the largest and most comprehensive investment databases available.

A Greenwich mortgage broker admitted that she helped her college-age son recruit investors in a multimillion-dollar hedge fund scam but said she really believed he was a savvy money manager.

Hedge funds have scaled back their expected returns for the year following large losses in May and June on stock market bets, a survey of delegates at a hedge fund conference showed.

Hedge fund indexes fell for a second straight month in June and underperformed the Standard & Poor's 500 equity benchmark after some managers were caught out by sharp stock-market gyrations.

Kenneth Jeyaretnam, another child of socialism forging ahead in the world of global capitalism, is launching his own $500 million hedge fund. Kenneth is the son of Joshua B Jeyaretnam (pictured left), the leader of Singapore's socialist opposition.

A major hedge fund player in the heavily contested Mittal takeover of Arcelor is set to launch his own hedge fund. The fund, which will be based on merger arbitrage and distressed debt trading, aims to scoop up an initial $500m of investment funds.

Hyder Ahmad, head of risk arbitrage and co-head of securities for Asia at Goldman Sachs Inc. has resigned to start an Asian hedge fund. He is planning to raise £1 billion from Asia-based investors for the new hedge fund begining operation this year, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

Not since George Soros broke the Bank of England has there been such a hubbub about hedge funds. Soros garnered instant fame in 1992 when the British pound was in trouble and the Bank of England was reluctant to either raise interest rates or allow the currency to float. Soros saw the opening and sold short vast amounts of pounds.

Three influential US senators have asked President George W. Bush to raise the case of William Browder, the hedge fund chief who has been barred from entering Russia, when he meets Vladimir Putin at the Group of Eight summit this month.

Mangan & McColl Partners, a U.S. hedge fund firm whose assets have dwindled in the last years, said it will liquidate its funds by the end of July because it has become difficult to find attractive investments.

Standard & Poor's said it will no longer publish its four-year old index, highlighting turmoil relating to Refco.