Sovereign Wealth Funds: Background and Policy Issues for Congress, January 28, 2008

摘要

Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) are investment funds owned and managed by national governments. Such funds currently manage between $1.9 and $2.9 trillion and are expected to grow to over $12 trillion by 2015. This is due to the rapid growth of commodity prices and large trade surpluses in several emerging market economies. During the second half of 2007, interest in SWFs increased as Asian and Middle Eastern SWFs, fueled by surging foreign exchange reserves, invested large sums of capital in U.S. and other Western companies. Policy makers in the United States have raised two broad policy concerns about SWFs: (1) their lack of transparency and (2) their possible misuse for political or other non-commercial goals. The Senate Banking Committee held hearings on SWFs in November 2007. Additional congressional hearings are expected in 2008. SWFs pose a complex challenge for policy makers. On one hand, SWFs are long-term investment vehicles looking beyond quarterly results and therefore serve as stable funding sources during financial turbulance. On the other hand, however, there are operational concerns stemming from government control (i.e., lack of transparency and possible non-commercial investment goals). Without transparency, it is difficult to attain a clear picture of SWF investment activity. A lack of SWF transparency can also obscure governance and risk-management problems within SWFs.