Hedge fund and private-equity giants overseeing trillions of dollars are poised to face tougher regulations from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

SEC Chair Gary Gensler said that he’s asked the agency’s staff to consider ways to bolster transparency into the fees firms charge investors and fund performance metrics. In shining a spotlight on hedge funds and private equity, he’s targeting industries that have long been in the crosshairs of prominent Democratic lawmakers, including Senator Elizabeth Warren.

“I think it’s time we take stock of the rapid growth and changes in this field,” Gensler said in remarks prepared for a Wednesday speech at the Institutional Limited Partners Association Summit. He added that the SEC should look at ways to “bring more sunshine and competition to the private funds space.”

Gensler laid out several areas for SEC focus tied to competition and transparency. Topics he’s asked the SEC staff to examine, include:

• Whether rule changes are needed to ensure that some investors don’t get preferential access to information through “side letters,” which are not shared with everyone that has an interest in a fund.
• What can be done to increase transparency into performance metrics used by private fund managers.
• Whether certain practices should be prohibited to prevent conflicts of interest.
• How the SEC should “freshen up” the information included in Form PF, which private funds must file with the agency.

This article was provided by Bloomberg News.