Jan. 24th looms as the deadline by which broker-dealers must comply with the new soft dollars rules set by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The agency has been trying to crack down, as you know. A lot of the really egregious practices have already ended, the nights out on the town, the sports tickets, the junkets. So the shift will likely be subtle. For the SEC, however, some think this provides entrée into the realm of hedge fund regulation, an area where it has had little luck. The SEC has focused some attention on prime brokerages, notably Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Bear Stearns and others. Some say this might be a back door for the SEC to examine hedge fund practices a bit more closely.

For more:
- here's a Forbes article