An investment fund that establishes an equity position in a U.S. public company may encounter a variety of regulatory schemes that apply once a threshold level of ownership has been crossed. We have previously explored the substance of these schemes (see our December 2008 memorandum, Establishing, Maintaining and Exiting a Minority Equity Position: U.S. Securities Law Considerations for Hedge Funds). In the attached memorandum we take a meta view, analyzing the differing conceptions of "ownership" that underlie some of the most important investment-related regulations.