<SEC-DOCUMENT>0001193125-13-128403.txt : 20130520
<SEC-HEADER>0001193125-13-128403.hdr.sgml : 20130520
<ACCEPTANCE-DATETIME>20130327105600
<PRIVATE-TO-PUBLIC>
ACCESSION NUMBER:		0001193125-13-128403
CONFORMED SUBMISSION TYPE:	CORRESP
PUBLIC DOCUMENT COUNT:		1
FILED AS OF DATE:		20130327

FILER:

	COMPANY DATA:	
		COMPANY CONFORMED NAME:			Clough Global Equity Fund
		CENTRAL INDEX KEY:			0001316463
		IRS NUMBER:				202248098
		STATE OF INCORPORATION:			DE
		FISCAL YEAR END:			0331

	FILING VALUES:
		FORM TYPE:		CORRESP

	BUSINESS ADDRESS:	
		STREET 1:		P.O. BOX 328
		CITY:			DENVER
		STATE:			CO
		ZIP:			80201-0328
		BUSINESS PHONE:		303-623-2577

	MAIL ADDRESS:	
		STREET 1:		P.O. BOX 328
		CITY:			DENVER
		STATE:			CO
		ZIP:			80201-0328
</SEC-HEADER>
<DOCUMENT>
<TYPE>CORRESP
<SEQUENCE>1
<FILENAME>filename1.htm
<TEXT>
<HTML><HEAD>
<TITLE>Letter to the SEC</TITLE>
</HEAD>
 <BODY BGCOLOR="WHITE">

 <P STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">March&nbsp;27, 2013 </FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:12px;margin-bottom:0px"><FONT
STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2"><B><U>VIA EDGAR </U></B></FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:12px;margin-bottom:0px"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">Mr.&nbsp;Jeffrey Long </FONT></P>
<P STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">Senior Staff Accountant </FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission </FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">Division of Investment Management </FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px"><FONT
STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">Office of Disclosure and Review </FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">100 F Street NE </FONT></P>
<P STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">Washington D.C. 20549-8626 </FONT></P> <P STYLE="font-size:12px;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px">&nbsp;</P>
<TABLE STYLE="BORDER-COLLAPSE:COLLAPSE" BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%">
<TR>
<TD WIDTH="4%" VALIGN="top" ALIGN="left"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">RE:</FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> <P ALIGN="justify"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">Clough Global Equity Fund (the &#147;Registrant&#148; or the &#147;Fund&#148;) </FONT></P></TD></TR></TABLE>
<P STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:4%" ALIGN="justify"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">Investment Company Act File No.&nbsp;811-21712 </FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:12px;margin-bottom:0px"><FONT
STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">Dear Mr.&nbsp;Long: </FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:12px;margin-bottom:0px" ALIGN="justify"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">On behalf of the Registrant, this letter responds to your
comments communicated orally to ALPS Fund Services, Inc. (&#147;ALPS&#148;), the administrator of the Registrant, on March&nbsp;1, 2013 with respect to the review of the Registrant by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the
&#147;Commission&#148;). You stated that the purpose of the Commission&#146;s review was designed to ensure that the filings made by the Registrant with the Commission, including the accompanying Registrant disclosures, complied with the
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. </FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:12px;margin-bottom:0px" ALIGN="justify"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">Set forth in the numbered paragraphs below are your comments of March&nbsp;1, 2013, followed by
the Registrant&#146;s responses. In response to your request, this letter is being submitted to the Commission as a correspondence filing via EDGAR within thirty (30)&nbsp;days of receipt of your comments. </FONT></P>
<P STYLE="font-size:6px;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px">&nbsp;</P>
<TABLE STYLE="BORDER-COLLAPSE:COLLAPSE" BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%">
<TR>
<TD WIDTH="4%" VALIGN="top" ALIGN="left"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">1)</FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> <P ALIGN="justify"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2"><B>C</B><B><I>omment: </I></B>As the Fund has paid out return of capital in recent distributions; you requested that rather than refer to
&#145;dividend yield&#146; in the fact sheets on the Fund&#146;s website, the fact sheets should be revised to refer to it as a &#145;distribution&#146; or &#145;distribution rate&#146;. </FONT></P></TD></TR></TABLE>
<P STYLE="margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:4%" ALIGN="justify"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2"><B><I>Response: </I></B>Requested revision will be incorporated to the Fund&#146;s fact sheets on the website. </FONT></P>
<P STYLE="font-size:6px;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px">&nbsp;</P>
<TABLE STYLE="BORDER-COLLAPSE:COLLAPSE" BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%">
<TR>
<TD WIDTH="4%" VALIGN="top" ALIGN="left"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">2)</FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> <P ALIGN="justify"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2"><B>C</B><B><I>omment: </I></B>You provided several comments regarding the Registrant&#146;s Form N-CSR filing for its fiscal year ended
March&nbsp;31, 2012, as filed on June&nbsp;4, 2012. In particular, you noted the following: </FONT></P></TD></TR></TABLE>
<P STYLE="margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:4%" ALIGN="justify"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">(a) The Fund&#146;s name suggests it will focus on investments in global securities. Accordingly, how does the Fund comply
with the requirement of Rule 35d-1 under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the &#147;1940 Act&#148;) and that such funds must invest at least 80% of its net assets in the type of investment suggested by their name? </FONT></P>
<P STYLE="margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:4%" ALIGN="justify"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">(b) You stated that in the Statement of Investments, the securities sold short should be broken out by corresponding
industry sectors. </FONT></P>
 <p STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px"><FONT SIZE="1">&nbsp;</FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px" ALIGN="center"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">1 </FONT></P>


<p Style='page-break-before:always'>
<HR  SIZE="3" style="COLOR:#999999" WIDTH="100%" ALIGN="CENTER">

 <P STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:4%" ALIGN="justify"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">(c) You stated that the Shareholder Letter references that Goodyear Tire and
Rubber Company (&#147;Goodyear&#148;) was sold but the Statement of Investments still reflects that Goodyear was held by the Fund as of March&nbsp;31, 2012. </FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:4%" ALIGN="justify"><FONT
STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">(d) You noted that the Annual Fund Operating Expense in the Fund&#146;s original prospectus did not contain a line item for Dividend Expense on Short Sales or Acquired Fund Fees and Expenses. As the Fund
does invest in securities that produce dividend expenses on shorts sales and there are acquired fund fees and expenses associated with securities now held by the Fund, you inquired whether the Fund would consider updating its prospectus to reflect
these line items. </FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:4%" ALIGN="justify"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">(e) You noted that the Statement of Investments for the Registrant is substantially
identical to the Statement of Investments for the Clough Global Allocation Fund (Investment Company Act File No.&nbsp;811-21583) (&#147;GLV&#148;) and Clough Global Opportunities Fund (Investment Company Act File No.&nbsp;811-21846)
(&#147;GLO&#148;)(together with the Registrant, the &#147;Funds&#148;). You noted that the advisory fee for the Registrant is 0.90% of average daily net assets, while the advisory fee for GLV and GLO is 0.70% and 1.00% of GLV&#146;s and GLO&#146;s
average daily total assets, respectively. Please explain how the Boards of Trustees of the Funds (collectively the &#147;Board&#148;) is comfortable with the varying advisory fees given the similarity in the Statement of Investments. </FONT></P>
<P STYLE="margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:4%" ALIGN="justify"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">(f) You stated that Section&nbsp;18(a)(1) of the 1940 Act requires a senior security to be subject to an asset coverage
test of 300% after such security&#146;s issuance or sale or at the time of declaration of any dividend or distribution. You stated that it appears based off the Registrant&#146;s financial statements contained in its Form N-CSR filing, the
Registrant may have fallen below the asset coverage required under Section&nbsp;18(a)(1) of the 1940 Act. </FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:4%" ALIGN="justify"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">(g)
In the Notes to the Financial Statements, for the Level III securities there is a sensitivity analysis required under Accounting Standards Update 2011-04. Please ensure that the sensitivity analysis is included into future filings of the Registrant.
</FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:18px;margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:4%" ALIGN="justify"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2"><B><I>Response:</I></B> </FONT></P>
<P STYLE="margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:4%" ALIGN="justify"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">(a) The Registrant believes the Fund is not subject to Rule 35d-1 of the 1940 Act and thus is not subject to the &#147;80%
Test&#148;. The term &#147;global&#148; commonly means U.S. and non-U.S. securities. The investment objective of the Fund is to provide a high level of total return. The Fund seeks to pursue this objective by applying a fundamental research-driven
investment process and will, under normal circumstances, invest at least 80% of its net assets, including borrowings for investment purposes, in equity and equity-related securities in both U.S. and non-U.S. markets. </FONT></P>
<P STYLE="margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:4%" ALIGN="justify"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">(b) Requested revision will be incorporated to future Registrant filings on Form N-CSR. </FONT></P>
<P STYLE="margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:4%" ALIGN="justify"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">(c) As of fiscal year ended March&nbsp;31, 2012 the Fund did hold a position in Goodyear, however the Fund divested its
position in Goodyear at the time of writing the Shareholder Letter, which was written after fiscal year ended March&nbsp;31, 2012. </FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:4%" ALIGN="justify"><FONT
STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">(d) As the Fund is a closed-end investment company, it is not required to annually update its prospectus. The Registrant believes the best manner to communicate any changes in expenses to shareholders is
through its required dissemination of its semi-annual and annual report to shareholders. However, the Registrant will consider the Commission&#146;s comments in any future updates to the Registrant&#146;s prospectus, if any. </FONT></P>
 <p STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px"><FONT SIZE="1">&nbsp;</FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px" ALIGN="center"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">2 </FONT></P>


<p Style='page-break-before:always'>
<HR  SIZE="3" style="COLOR:#999999" WIDTH="100%" ALIGN="CENTER">

 <P STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:4%" ALIGN="justify"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">(e) In connection with the renewal of the Registrant&#146;s Investment
Advisory and Management Agreement (the &#147;Advisory Agreement&#148;) between the Registrant and Clough Capital Partners LP (the &#147;Advisor&#148;), the Board requests and receives detailed information furnished by the Advisor that allows the
Board to assess such information as may reasonably be necessary to permit the Board to evaluate the terms of the Advisory Agreement. Included in the information provided to the Board by Clough Capital is a comparison of the Funds&#146; advisory fee
rates with fee rates charged by Clough Capital to other clients which it provides comparable services, with an explanation of differences between fees rates and criteria used in the analysis including services, costs and performance. While all three
Funds have a similar investment mandate, the Board considers certain factors such as the Registrant must have a minimum of 80% of its assets in equity or equity-related securities, therefore the Registrant has higher risk than GLV and the Registrant
can rely on non-equity investments to diversify. Further, GLO can use more aggressive investment vehicles than the Registrant or GLV such as long-dated leap options, which can have greater risk as well as are more complex products. A full discussion
of the Board&#146;s analysis regarding the renewal of the Investment Advisory and Management Agreement between the Registrant and Clough Capital Partners LP may be found in the Registrant&#146;s Form N-CSR filing for its semi-annual period ended
September&nbsp;30, 2012 as filed on December&nbsp;7, 2012. </FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:4%" ALIGN="justify"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">(f) The Registrant has entered into a Committed
Facility Agreement with BNP Paribas Prime Brokerage, Inc. (the &#147;Facility&#148;) whereby the Registrant is allowed to borrow funds. The Registrant believes it has met the 300% asset coverage test imposed by Section&nbsp;18(a)(1) of the 1940 Act
as the Registrant believes the calculation of the asset coverage of at least 300% occurs when the Registrant entered into the Facility and anytime the Registrant draws on the Facility and not on a daily basis. Moreover, as the Facility is not
considered a &#145;senior security&#146; per Section&nbsp;18(g) of the 1940 Act, the Registrant is not required to meet the 300% asset coverage test at the time of declaration of dividend or distribution. </FONT></P>
<P STYLE="margin-top:6px;margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:4%" ALIGN="justify"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">(g) Requested revision will be incorporated to future Registrant filings on Form N-CSR. </FONT></P>
<P STYLE="margin-top:12px;margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:4%" ALIGN="justify"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">***** </FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:12px;margin-bottom:0px; text-indent:4%" ALIGN="justify"><FONT
STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">In connection with the Commission&#146;s review of filings made by the Registrant, including the accompany Registrant disclosures in view of compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as described
herein, the Registrant hereby acknowledges that: </FONT></P> <P STYLE="font-size:6px;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px">&nbsp;</P>
<TABLE STYLE="BORDER-COLLAPSE:COLLAPSE" BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%">
<TR>
<TD WIDTH="4%"><FONT SIZE="1">&nbsp;</FONT></TD>
<TD WIDTH="4%" VALIGN="top" ALIGN="left"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">(i)</FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> <P ALIGN="justify"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">The Registrant is responsible for the adequacy and accuracy of the disclosures in its filings; </FONT></P></TD></TR></TABLE>
<P STYLE="font-size:6px;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px">&nbsp;</P>
<TABLE STYLE="BORDER-COLLAPSE:COLLAPSE" BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%">
<TR>
<TD WIDTH="4%"><FONT SIZE="1">&nbsp;</FONT></TD>
<TD WIDTH="4%" VALIGN="top" ALIGN="left"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">(ii)</FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> <P ALIGN="justify"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">Commission staff comments or changes to disclosure in response to staff comments in the filings reviewed by the staff do not foreclose the
Commission from taking any action with respect to the filings; and </FONT></P></TD></TR></TABLE> <P STYLE="font-size:6px;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px">&nbsp;</P>
<TABLE STYLE="BORDER-COLLAPSE:COLLAPSE" BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%">
<TR>
<TD WIDTH="4%"><FONT SIZE="1">&nbsp;</FONT></TD>
<TD WIDTH="4%" VALIGN="top" ALIGN="left"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">(iii)</FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> <P ALIGN="justify"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">The Registrant may not assert staff comments as a defense in any proceeding initiated by the Commission or any person under the federal securities
laws of the United States. </FONT></P></TD></TR></TABLE> <P STYLE="margin-top:12px;margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:8%" ALIGN="justify"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">***** </FONT></P>
<P STYLE="margin-top:12px;margin-bottom:0px" ALIGN="justify"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">Please feel free to contact the undersigned at 720.917.0602 should you have any questions. </FONT></P>
 <p STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px"><FONT SIZE="1">&nbsp;</FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px" ALIGN="center"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">3 </FONT></P>


<p Style='page-break-before:always'>
<HR  SIZE="3" style="COLOR:#999999" WIDTH="100%" ALIGN="CENTER">

 <P STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">Sincerely, </FONT></P> <P STYLE="font-size:12px;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px">&nbsp;</P>
<TABLE CELLSPACING="0" CELLPADDING="0" WIDTH="40%" BORDER="0" STYLE="BORDER-COLLAPSE:COLLAPSE">


<TR>
<TD WIDTH="100%"></TD></TR>


<TR>
<TD VALIGN="top"> <P STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:1px;border-bottom:1px solid #000000" ALIGN="justify"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">/s/ Erin D. Nelson</FONT></P></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD VALIGN="top"> <P ALIGN="justify"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">Erin D. Nelson, Esq.</FONT></P></TD></TR>
<TR>
<TD VALIGN="top"> <P ALIGN="justify"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">Secretary, Clough Global Equity Fund</FONT></P></TD></TR>
</TABLE> <P STYLE="font-size:12px;margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px">&nbsp;</P>
<TABLE STYLE="BORDER-COLLAPSE:COLLAPSE" BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="0" CELLSPACING="0" WIDTH="100%">
<TR>
<TD WIDTH="4%" VALIGN="top" ALIGN="left"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">cc:</FONT></TD>
<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> <P ALIGN="justify"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">Board of Trustees, Clough Global Equity Fund </FONT></P></TD></TR></TABLE>
<P STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:4%" ALIGN="justify"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">Jeremy O. May, Treasurer, Clough Global Equity Fund </FONT></P>
<P STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:4%" ALIGN="justify"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">Dawn Cotten, Assistant Treasurer, Clough Global Equity Fund </FONT></P>
<P STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:4%" ALIGN="justify"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">Theodore Uhl, Chief Compliance Officer, Clough Global Equity Fund </FONT></P>
<P STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:4%" ALIGN="justify"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">Philip Niehoff, Esq., Mayer Brown LLP </FONT></P>
<P STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px; margin-left:4%" ALIGN="justify"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">Peggy McCaffrey, Cohen Fund Audit Services, Ltd. </FONT></P>
 <p STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px"><FONT SIZE="1">&nbsp;</FONT></P> <P STYLE="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px" ALIGN="center"><FONT STYLE="font-family:Times New Roman" SIZE="2">4 </FONT></P>

</BODY></HTML>
</TEXT>
</DOCUMENT>
</SEC-DOCUMENT>
