The SEC has been working on a difficult assignment since last month - to describe its handling of about 20 instances of trading at the SAC Capital Advisors hedge fund that had been referred to the Commission.  The trades were handed to the SEC by FINRA over the past decade. 

In his request of 5/24/11, Senator Charles Grassley (Rep-IA) asked the agency to respond by Tuesday, 6/7.  The SEC couldn't meet the deadline, asking for additional time to be sure they are allowed to share the information requested.  The Senator said he's "willing to give enough time to allow for a comprehensive response.” 

SEC is Deliberate.   The fact is, the SEC wants to be very sure before it submits its findings.  And while SAC Capital would appear to be the target of the Senator's request, many say it's the SEC that is under review.  Sen. Grassley has been a vocal critic of the agency in the past and conducted a similar inquiry in 2009 related to Pequot Capital Management, a once powerful hedge fund that has since shuttered.  Mr. Grassley has also taken the agency to task for its failure to uncover the multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme perpetrated by Bernie Madoff.

In his most recent effort, Mr. Grassley said that he expected the agency to respond in a timely fashion.  “If the information isn’t forthcoming, I want credible evidence that withholding the materials actually would impede an active investigation,” he said in the statement.  “Otherwise, if the S.E.C. isn’t taking action, there’s no reason for the agency to withhold the information.”

What the SEC is Reviewing.   The review deals with SAC transactions relating to purchases of companies ahead of mergers and other market moving events, though the specifics of the trades have not been publicly released.  However, the SEC has been looking into trades in health care stocks made by the hedge fund, as well as its use of expert-network firms, according to a person briefed on the matter.  Expert networks are agencies that connect industry specialists with money managers.  Neither SAC nor its founder, Steven A. Cohen, have been accused of any wrongdoing.  Additional concerns for SAC is that 2 former SAC employees pleaded guilty this year to making illegal trades based on confidential information.  [Dealbook, 6/7/11]