U.S. securities regulators have stepped up their probes of hedge funds and are asking some firms to hand over information about their performance and trades, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

In the past two months, the Securities and Exchange Commission has sent subpoenas to the funds asking for information about performance and how they raised assets, said the source.

The flurry of demands came after the SEC made it easier for enforcement staff to obtain subpoenas.

The source did not know whether the SEC was stepping up its efforts in relation to its insider trading probes. The agency and state and federal criminal authorities are pursuing the biggest insider trading case involving hedge funds.

That case has already ensnared the billionaire founder of Galleon Group, traders, lawyers and other Wall Street types.

In April, the SEC said it had about 150 active hedge fund investigations.

(Reporting by Rachelle Younglai; editing by Julie Vorman, Leslie Gevirtz)

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