Hedge funds could help finance growth

Sitting on billions of dollars in cash, dozens of hedge funds are looking for investments at the same time cash- strapped small and mid-sized companies search for new money to help them stay in business.

Together these unlikely partners could find a way to escape a debilitating liquidity crisis that threatens to push the country further into its deepest financial crisis since the Great Depression, Perrie Weiner, a partner at law firm DLA Piper told Reuters in an interview.

"There is a way out, but the answer lies not with the current government rescue plan, but rather with hedge funds," Weiner, who advises dozens of hedge funds as international co-chair of DLA Piper's Securities Litigation group said one day before speaking about the topic at an industry conference.

"All the government needs to do is to relax Sarbanes Oxley on middle market companies and create tax incentives for hedge fund investments," he said.