A chilling confluence

While this may read like hyperbole for the sake of alliteration, recent and unfolding events impacting hedge funds' prime broker relationships and investors, nonetheless warrant close attention.

Prime broker liability

First, a federal bankruptcy judge in New York ruled last month that Bear Stearns must pay almost $160 million to investors in Manhattan Investment Fund, a hedge fund and prime brokerage that collapsed in 2000 after losing about $400 million in bad technology bets, and whose manag