Given the Securities and Exchange Commission's adoption of changes to federal proxy rules, boards will have to further consider how to defend themselves from activist shareholders as well as come up with
The Securities and Exchange Commission has told money market fund boards that they can hold off on designating nationally recognized statistical rating organizations (NRSROs) until the Commission has reviewed its credit ratings regulations as required by the Dodd-Frank Act.
Andrew "Buddy" Donohue's departure from his post as the nation's top mutual fund regulator has spurred industry speculation that his exit might lessen chances of major change in Rule 12b-1, which allows the use of fund assets to pay fund distribution costs.
The Securities and Exchange Commission's plans to restructure fund distribution fees may create some new issues for fund directors.
American Funds investors who lost a suit alleging advisor Capital Research and Management Company charged excessive fees are seeking a reversal based on Jones v. Harris.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has clarified a revision to Rule 2a-7 relating to a fund’s average weighted portfolio maturity (WAM) not being allowed to exceed 60 days.
A fundamental accounting change now in the works could send mutual fund expense ratios skyrocketing, especially for funds that do a lot of trading.
As the Securities and Exchange Commission proceeds with its review of fund’s usage of derivatives, it has urged funds to take a fresh look at derivatives-related disclosures.
The financial reform bill mandates the Securities and Exchange Commission to conduct 18 separate studies--a number of which will have some impact on mutual funds.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has issued a proposal to restructure the way mutual funds pay for the marketing and selling of their shares and to revise fund directors' oversight duties in reviewing these fees to reflect current market practices.
Morgan Stanley Investment Advisors and Van Kampen Asset Management are the latest recipients of lawsuits from teed off common stockholders who claim auction rate preferred shareholders received preferential treatment by having their shares redeemed at par during the market meltdown last year.
Fund boards and senior management should review their anti-money laundering (AML) programs to make sure they meet new regulatory guidance, according to a Deloitte Webcast.
Fund boards may welcome the removal of references to Nationally Recognized Statistical Ratings Organizations that is mandated in the Dodd-Frank Act, according to Joan Ohlbaum Swirsky, of counsel at Stradley Ronon.
Enhanced director disclosure requirements proposed by the Securities and Exchange Commission last year have resulted in more informative filings, according to Mary Schapiro, chairman.
The Securities and Exchange Commission is examining whether open-end and closed-end mutual funds should be required to disclose the number of shares that a fund votes at a proxy meeting.
The role of fund directors when it comes to funds' usage of derivatives and leverage is one of oversight and should not cross into micromanagement, according to a report from a task force of the Committee on Federal Regulation of Securities of the Business Law section of the American Bar Association.
In its proposed new rules on target-date fund disclosures, the Securities and Exchange Commission says it expects that a fund board should monitor the flexibility used to change a glide path.
The goal of money market fund reform is for money market funds to be able to "stand on their own," according to Andrew Donohue, director of the Securities and Exchange Commission's Division of Investment Management.
Although a quorum was reached, the director nominees for the DWS Dreman Value Income Edge Fund did not receive enough votes to be elected but a stockholder proposal to destagger the board was approved.
A U.S. District Court has dismissed a derivative lawsuit against certain independent trustees of the Franklin Templeton funds, which alleged breach of fiduciary duty and a waste of fund assets.
Both sides in the excessive fee case of Jones v. Harris Associates have filed motions and are waiting on a decision from the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals on how to move forward in the case.
Cohen & Steers and Eaton Vance are the latest closed-end fund providers to receive demand letters claiming breach of fiduciary duty in connection with the redemption of auction-rate preferred securities following the collapse of the auction markets in February 2008.
Litigation may be in store for closed-end fund boards that refinanced their fund's auction-rate and auction preferred shares as demand letters alleging breach of fiduciary duties are being sent out to various complexes on behalf of the common shareholders.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has ruled that non-binding proposals must be considered for inclusion in proxy materials.
The U.S. mutual fund industry is being urged by its chief regulator to re-examine, in a more positive light, the scenario of investment companies being subjected to International Financial Reporting Standards.
Directors of the DWS Dreman Value Income Edge Fund missed its annual meeting on May 24 at which a dissident group led by activist Art Lipson pressed for amendments and the election of their own slate of four directors.
Just before the new money market fund rule reforms went into effect late last month, the Securities and Exchange Commission staff put out guidance in response to firms' compliance questions.
Is the Securities and Exchange Commission becoming more aggressive toward independent directors?
The need for substantial changes to Rule 12b-1 may be reduced, according to Avi Nachmany, executive v.p. and director of research at Strategic Insight. New data from his firm show 70% of sales last year were of no load shares or of "A" shares selling at net-asset-value, while less than 1% of sales remained on load funds or "B" shares.
Unnoticed in the 1,300 pages of the financial regulatory reform bill the Senate Banking Committee voted to approve in March is a section calling on the Government Accountability Office to do a study of mutual fund advertising and the way the Securities and Exchange Commission regulates it.
Oversight of derivatives cannot be business as usual, according to Andrew "Buddy" Donohue, director of the Securities and Exchange Commission Division of Investment Management.
Putnam Funds has reaffirmed the reelection of all 12 of the independent trustees of the Putnam Municipal Opportunities Trust after a proxy contest resulted in the backing of two dissident preferred share candidates by third party voting company RiskMetrics.
The Securities and Exchange Commission recently took action to fix a money market regulatory glitch it inadvertently created in February when it narrowed the definition of what cash collateral could consist of for securities lending pools.
In light of Jones v. Harris Associates and the decision to definitively uphold the Gartenberg standard for fees, the Supreme Court has remanded the excessive fees case of Gallus v. Ameriprise back to the United States Court of Appeals of the Eighth Circuit for further consideration.
Independent directors can take comfort in the U.S. Supreme Court's decision upholding the Gartenberg standard for fees and bringing greater stability and clarity to the board's role with respect to 36(b) cases.
The boards of directors for two funds advised by Boulder Investment Advisers could end up terminating Boulder's advisory agreements as a result of actions taken by the Securities and Exchange Commission staff.
The Securities and Exchange Commission staff is looking into the use of derivatives by mutual funds and exchange-traded funds, including whether fund boards are providing appropriate oversight.
Money market fund boards are going to have to crack the mystery of who their customers are to spot "hot money" coming in the door, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
With the Securities and Exchange Commission ramping up its focus on enforcement, directors should expect more sweeping investigations and examinations instead of those that target a specific fund for a known problem, according to Randy Fons, partner at Morrison & Foerster and former SEC enforcement lawyer.
Directors have responded to the Securities and Exchange Commission's new rules on money market funds with a resounding sigh of relief after two proposals that would have increased board involvement were dropped.
Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro reinforced the Commission's focus on point of sale disclosures, 12b-1 fees, proxy access rules and money market funds during a recent speech in Washington, D.C., citing her hopes for regulatory action this year.
The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has adopted an update to its disclosures about fair value measurements, which will be effective for December 31 year-end funds by the end of 2010.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has adopted new rules on money market funds intended to improve liquidity, increase credit quality and shorten maturity limits.
The American Bar Association's sub-committee on investment companies and investment advisors has released an investment management legal review for year-end 2009.
The first comprehensive cleanup of the tax rules governing the mutual fund industry in a quarter of a century was launched in December when House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) introduced the "Regulated Investment Company Act of 2009."
Industry professionals say the appointment of new boss Carlo di Florio and a number of senior officials has ended months of uncertainty about the future of the Securities and Exchange Commission's Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has adopted proposed changes requiring funds to provide expanded disclosures on qualifications for board membership, the board's oversight of risk management and leadership structure of the board.
A federal district court judge has dismissed an excessive fees lawsuit brought by investors in eight of the 30 American Funds.
Shareholders of the Reserve Primary Fund, which broke the buck last September, will receive 99 cents on the dollar or more after a U.S. District Court adopted the Securities and Exchange Commission's distribution plan for the fund.
Both sides in the excessive fees case of Gallus v. Ameriprise have filed petitions to the Supreme Court stating that it should put off a decision on whether to hear the case until a decision is made in Jones vs. Harris Associates.
MoxyVote.com, a new retail proxy voting platform, is looking to increase the participation of mutual funds on its site.
More than just a name change or additional disclosure may be needed to fix 12b-1 fees, according to Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro.
A member of the Senate Banking Committee is moving to resurrect the issue of fund governance just as Congress is reaching the point of making decisions on how to shape the financial regulatory structure.
Financial Accounting Statement 167 will not be adopted until late in 2010, the Financial Accounting Standards Board voted last month.
Closed-end fund boards need to be careful when employing certain tactics to fend off dissident shareholders, Andrew "Buddy" Donohue, director of the Securities and Exchange Commission's Division of Investment Management warned at a meeting of the Independent Directors Council last month.
The Investment Company Institute is fighting a proposed accounting standard that would require disclosure of "reasonable" alternative prices for portfolio holdings other than the ones a fund company itself selects in fair valuing securities.
Securities and Exchange Commission officials say they are having difficulties trying to hold the proposed liquidity levels for retail funds to the 15% originally proposed or the 20% for all funds suggested last March by the Investment Company Institute. Robert Plaze, associate director of the SEC's Division of Investment Management, told fund lawyers at a D.C. Bar Association gathering last month that what he saw instead was "very high thresholds" for both retail and institutional funds.
Boards will take on more oversight work in the area of Rule 10f-3 once the Securities and Exchange Commission requirements to reduce reliance on credit ratings become effective November 12.
Boards may find themselves approving more informative and explanatory proxy materials following the Securities and Exchange Commission's proposed changes regarding its notice and access proxy rules.