The legislation would require firms for the first time to report their assets, leverage, off-balance sheet holdings and investments to regulators on a confidential basis, the department said yesterday. The law would apply to hedge funds, private-equity firms and venture capital managers with more than $30 million in assets.

The US government, like its peers in Europe and elsewhere, is seeking to tighten regulatory controls over the hedge fund industry in the wake of the financial turmoil. The hedge fund sector, meanwhile, has argued that it is not primarily at fault for causing the crisis and has been unfairly maligned.

Reports said the SEC would, under the proposals, examine registered firms and share information with the Federal Reserve and the proposed Financial Services Oversight Council.

The administration should create an independent panel to monitor financial markets for systemic risk, instead of giving the responsibility to the Fed, according to a report today by the Investors’ Working Group, a panel led by former SEC chairmen William Donaldson and Arthur Levitt.