On April 18, 2013, the Regulatory Compliance Association held its Regulation, Operations & Compliance 2013 Symposium, at which industry leaders and regulators offered their perspectives on critical issues facing hedge fund managers and investors.  The Hedge Fund Law Report is publishing a two-part series of articles summarizing salient points from panel discussions held during the Symposium.  This article, the first in the series, discusses regulatory and operational challenges implicated by side letters, including dealing with requests for enhanced liquidity and transparency as well as the evaluation of requests for most favored nation provisions.  This article also addresses how hedge fund managers are using funds of one and managed accounts, and the benefits and burdens of each.  The second installment will cover techniques and strategies regulators and prosecutors are using to investigate insider trading; how managers should address high-priority conflicts of interest; the SEC’s whistleblower program; and compliance with the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act.  For articles covering speeches made and topics discussed during the Symposium, see “SEC Commissioner Aguilar Discusses Insider Trading by Hedge Fund Managers, Valuation and Other Examination and Enforcement Pressure Points,” Hedge Fund Law Report, Vol. 6, No. 18 (May 2, 2013); and “OCIE Director Bowden Identifies Five Key Lessons for Hedge Fund Managers from Recent Presence Examinations,” Hedge Fund Law Report, Vol. 6, No. 21 (May 23, 2013).