House panel sets May hedge fund hearing: source

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. House Financial Services Committee plans to hold a hearing on May 7 to examine the regulation of the $1.3 trillion hedge fund industry, according to a source familiar with the panel's schedule.

The source, who declined to be identified because the hearing has not been made public, said the date is tentative.

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Mary Schapiro told the Reuters Global Financial Regulation Summit in Washington on Tuesday that the agency needs the ability to inspect and examine the books and records of hedge funds as well as some rulemaking authority.

Committee Chairman Barney Frank also said at the summit he thinks U.S. lawmakers will give the SEC the authority to require hedge funds to register with the Wall Street watchdog.

Frank, a Democratic representative from Massachusetts, said registration requirements would be part of a broad package of financial regulatory reforms he plans to introduce later this year.

(Reporting by John Poirier; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick and Brian Moss)