WASHINGTON (Dow Jones Newswires) ? Amid the rapid downfall of futures broker Refco Inc. (RFXCQ), the Securities and Exchange Commission is starting to think about whether regulators need to exercise new kinds of oversight in order to prevent fraud.

?As regulators we have to ask ourselves whether there?s vulnerability that we have not addressed,? SEC Commissioner Roel Campos told reporters yesterday after speaking at the Hispanic National Bar Association. ?We will be looking at it broadly, getting industry views,? he said, adding that any SEC action would be ?very slow and measured and carefully thought out.?

He later amended his remarks to note that he was speaking for himself and not commenting on the priorities of SEC chairman Christopher Cox. Cox is travelling in China and has declined to comment specifically on Refco, although he has suggested that the SEC is well-equipped to deal with financial fraud.

Refco filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday, less than a week after chief executive Phillip Bennett was charged with fraud when the company discovered that an entity he controlled owed Refco hundreds of millions. The revelations led trading partners and clients to stop doing business with Refco. The company?s Refco Capital Markets Inc. unit, based in Bermuda, halted business within days, citing a lack of cash to keep going.

An unregulated entity that dealt in the largely unregulated over-the-counter derivatives market, the capital markets unit is the source of questions among regulators. One issue is whether the problems at Refco amount to an accounting fraud that triggered a liquidity crisis or whether the broader over-the-counter derivatives market poses risks that should concern regulators.

?It is unclear at this point whether this will be viewed by policy makers as an accounting or derivatives issue,? SEC commissioner Annette Nazareth told reporters after speaking at the same conference.

At the same time, the loans to Bennett were allegedly concealed through an arrangement with hedge fund Liberty Corner Capital Strategy LLC. Although hedge fund advisors must register with the SEC starting next year, the regulation will give the SEC only limited information about the industry. Some regulators worry that with limited information, the SEC may struggle to determine which hedge fund managers pose the biggest risks.

?We?re looking right now at all the information we should be getting on a voluntary and regular basis from hedge funds,? said Campos. ?We?re trying to work that out with the industry.?

Campos suggested that the SEC was prescient to have required hedge fund advisors to register with the agency in spite of opposition from the two Republicans on the five-member commission.

?Given that there are a number of hedge fund scandals and frauds that are being uncovered, I for one am happy that we are at least requiring registration of advisors,? Campos said. ?I think the public should feel that we at least have some level of oversight with our new rules.