KKR taps SEC official for compliance

Bruce Karpati, a former official at the Securities and Exchange Commission, is joining private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co as chief compliance officer, the New York Times reported, citing a person briefed on the matter.

A KKR spokeswoman said the company does not comment on personnel matters.

Karpati will succeed H.J. Willcox, who left the firm last year, the newspaper said.  Karpati left the SEC last year to become chief compliance officer of Prudential Financial Inc’s mutual fund arm. Earlier, he led the SEC’s efforts to examine hedge fund performance data to uncover investment fraud.

Cases the SEC has brought during Karpati’s tenure include charging hedge fund star Philip Falcone with market manipulation and charging a former $1 billion hedge fund advisory firm and two executives with scheming to overvalue assets under management.

Supriya Kurane is a correspondent for Reuters in Bangalore.