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.
A federal district court judge has found in favor of Capital Research and Management Company in an excessive fees lawsuit brought by investors in eight of the 30 American Funds, which CRMC advises.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has enacted an interim reporting requirement for money market funds with a market-based net asset value per share below 99.75% in the wake of the expiration of the Temporary Guarantee Program.
The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has proposed another update to its disclosures about fair value measurements (FD, September).
At the behest of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission an American Bar Association task force looking into mutual funds' usage of derivatives and leverage will focus on potential improvements in board oversight, disclosure requirements and the legislative framework.
The Independent Directors Council and the Mutual Fund Directors Forum have both filed amicus briefs in favor of reaffirming the lower court's decision in the case of Jones v. Harris Associates.
Proposed changes to federal proxy rules by the Securities and Exchange Commission that would make it easier for activist shareholders to gain seats on boards could have unintended consequence for fund companies.
Shareholders of the Reserve Primary Fund, who received about 90 cents on the dollar when the fund broke the buck last September, may receive more money per share than originally estimated.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed that funds list the qualifications, attributes and skills of their trustees that qualify them to serve as a director and on various board committees.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed that money market fund boards declare whether their funds sell to "retail" or "institutional" investors.
A number of changes to current laws being considered by Congress would translate into a major shakeup in the way mutual fund shares are distributed.
Pittsford, N.Y.-based Karpus Investment Management may be gearing up for a proxy contest in response to the board of Putnam Funds delaying a proposal to merge two closed-end funds into an open-end fund.
Chairman Mary Schapiro has handed Congress a laundry list of 42 changes in law, including several elements that would impact mutual funds.
Mutual fund firms, financial advisors and independent fund directors have been watching Jones v. Harris Associates for months in anticipation of how the outcome will affect the funds industry.
The Securities and Exchange Commission held an open meeting July 1 to discuss proposed amendments to disclosure rules for directors.
The Securities and Exchange Commission made public last week a proposal that would require money market fund boards to decide whether their funds sell to “retail” or “institutional” investors.
The Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed changes to federal proxy rules that would make it easier for activist shareholders to gain seats on boards.
The Securities and Exchange Commission approved a set of proposed new rules on money funds last month, but was not quite ready to make a decision on keeping net asset value stable or change it to floating and is seeking comment from the industry.
The Securities and Exchange Commission's Division of Investment Management needs to be strengthened, according to Jon Coates, professor of law at Harvard University.
Petitioners Jerry Jones, Mary Jones and Arline Winerman in the Jones Vs. Harris case have filed a merit brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in the first step towards a potentially game changing decision.
The Obama Administration rattled nerves in the mutual fund industry last month when word leaked that it was considering creating a new federal commission on consumer financial products - an entity which would redirect many of the duties regulating mutual funds away from the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The decade-long fight between advisors and brokers over how they are regulated came a step closer to conclusion last month as, for the first time, a Securities and Exchange Commission Commissioner detailed what potential regulations might look like.
Andrew "Buddy" Donohue, director of Division of Investment Management at the Securities and Exchange Commission, is concerned about funds' use of derivatives and has floated the idea that the industry may need new rules to govern how they are used.
The Securities and Exchange Commission's Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations has revised its exam modules to include specific questions about compliance cuts at broker/dealers and investment advisory firms.
The President's Working Group was exploring a two-tiered system for money market funds last month in an attempt to set systemic risk policy before President Obama met with the G-20.
The Securities and Exchange Commission will not be tackling 12b-1 reform this year, according to Andrew "Buddy" Donohue, director of the Division of Investment Management.
The U.S. Supreme Court could hand down an opinion on the Jones v. Harris Associates case next January just when fund groups are in the middle of the annual renewal of advisor contracts, warned Robert Skinner, partner at Ropes & Gray, who represents Harris before the high court.
The SEC specifically has plans to move forward with valuation and soft dollars initiatives, which boards have been waiting on for years.
The Securities and Exchange Commission is laying off 12b-1 reform for the rest of 2009, according to Andrew “Buddy” Donohue, director of the Division of Investment Management.