Regulators in U.S., U.K. eye private equity

Apparent U.S. focus on Hertz deal as company plans rich IPO

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- American and U.K. regulators are looking into their oversight roles in the exploding private-equity market, and the U.S. Department of Justice is reported to be looking particularly closely at the purchase of former Ford unit Hertz.
The moves by regulators come just a week before Hertz is set to take itself public in one of the year's richest deals.
The U.S. Department of Justice has added Merrill Lynch & Co's private-equity arm to its informal inquiry into the private-equity world, in a move that suggests the Hertz Global Holdings Corp. auction is being looked at, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. The report cited people familiar with the matter.
And, in a separate announcement Monday morning, Britain's Financial Services Authority (FSA) said it's studying whether it needs to more closely regulate the private-equity market. It will add private-equity supervisory responsibilities to a unit that already monitors hedge funds.