US authorities, say hedge fund managers, are seeking to bring high-profile targets to book with the same hard-line tactics used to target Wall Street rule-breakers such as the arbitrageur Ivan Boesky or the so-called junk bond king Michael Milkin in the 1980s.

In the wake of the arrest of Raj Rajaratnam, the founder of the Galleon Group, few hedge fund managers have missed the message.