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To: Rarebird who wrote (39847)	8/31/1999 4:44:00 PM
From: long-gone	Respond to of 116972

OT(?) Foreign Money/American Politics Are foreign interests buying access to the White House? That's what some Republicans suggesting in light of several large contributions to Bill Clinton and the Democratic Party from wealthy Asian donors. The best publicized of the questionable foreign donations involves two wealthy Indonesian families who have given several hundred thousand dollars to Clinton's re-election effort. Critics are raising questions about $320,000 of $450,000 donated by Indonesian nationals Arief and Soraya Wiriadinata. The couple made their first donation while living in a D.C. suburb where Arief Wiriadinata worked as a landscape architect. But their donations kept coming in for months after they moved back to Indonesia, possibly running afoul of Federal Elections Commission regulations. As green card holders, the Wiriadiantas were legal U.S. resident and could legitimately give money, but the FEC has never ruled on a case where a green card holder contributed to a campaign after leaving the country. Foreign nationals -- defined as a noncitizens living outside the United States or not lawfully admitted for permanent residence -- are prohibited from making donations. There is no legal precedent establishing which rule applies to donors who fall into both categories. The Wiriadinatas' contributions began last November after Clinton sent a note of concern to Soraya Wiriadinatas' father, Hashim Ning, who suffered a heart attack while visiting the United States. Ning, a partner of billionaire Mochtar Riady in the Lippo Group conglomerate, died in December, prompting the Wiriadinatas to return to Indonesia. The couple made 16 donations to the Democrats, totaling $450,000. The most recent, a $25,000 contribution sent in July, reportedly came from one of the Wiriadinatas' two former Virginia addresses which are no longer occupied. Mochtar Riady's son James, who ran the Lippo Group's Little Rock subsidiary while Clinton was governor of Arkansas, has extensive ties to president and some of his associates. He and Clinton met in 1977 when Riady was a banking intern. The Los Angeles Times has suggested that Clinton, the Riady family and the Indonesian government were involved in a close, mutually-beneficial relationship: the Riady's gave money to Clinton, who was in a position to help Indonesia's Suharto government, whose control over the Indonesian economy could help the Riadys and the Lippo Bank. Others contend that the Indonesian contributions are explicit cases of influence-buying by... parascope.com

To: Rarebird who wrote (39847)	9/1/1999 11:18:00 AM
From: Alex	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116972

Large pension fund prepared to punt $17bn in hedges INVESTMENT San Francisco: The California Public Employees' Retirement System, the largest public pension fund in the US, said it would invest as much as $US11.25 billion ($17.6 billion) in hedge funds, increasing risk to boost returns. "It's an area of opportunity where we can add value," Mr Bob Boldt, senior investment officer for public market investments at the $US160 billion fund, said in an interview. Because of its size and visibility, Calpers's move could cause more public pension funds to take the leap into these private investment partnerships that cater to wealthy individuals and institutions. Hedge funds are subject to less regulatory oversight than most money managers and have more flexibility in the investments they can make, including the ability to bet on falling as well as rising prices. At the beginning of the year, pension funds accounted for about 10 per cent of the $US220.5 billion invested in hedge funds, according to Hennessee Group. Much of that money came from corporate retirement plans, said Mr Lee Hennessee, of the New York-based consultancy. Calpers "could legitimise hedge fund investment" said Ms Nancy Everett, chief investment officer at the $US35 billion Virginia Retirement System. Virginia has $US1.5 billion in funds that buy stocks as well as short them a short being a wager that the shares will tumble. Calpers will avoid some of the best-known hedge funds, such as Mr George Soros's flagship Quantum Fund and Mr Julian Robertson's Tiger Management both of which have lagged benchmark stock indices the past two years because they're too risky, Mr Boldt said. Calpers's $US11.25 billion hedge fund ceiling represents a quarter of the $US45 billion it places with US stock and bond pickers. It will not necessarily channel all the money into hedge funds, Mr Boldt said. Bloomberg smh.com.au