Pequot Capital Management Inc

Pequot Capital Management Inc., a $7-billion hedge-fund firm, said Friday it was probed by securities regulators for possible insider trading and denied it did anything wrong. "At all times, Pequot's securities trading has been entirely proper and not based on insider information," said Jonathan Gasthalter, a spokesman for the Westport, Conn.-based firm.

Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) told Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox that he was concerned that unnecessary rules were slowing a congressional probe of whether political influence derailed an investigation into hedge fund Pequot Capital Management Inc.