Practice

More than one-third of people who invest in IRAs, plan to use them as investment vehicles to bequeath money to their children or other heirs, according to a survey by American Skandia Life Assurance of Shelton, Conn.

WASHINGTON - The regulators who oversee the mutual fund business and the lawyers who advise fund companies are battling about how far the SEC ought to go in regulating mutual fund advertisements.

WASHINGTON - Investors are not the only ones interested in hot initial public offerings.

Mutual fund companies face the prospect of a new SEC examination next year that has little to do with the agency's traditional scrutiny of securities practices and procedures.

WASHINGTON - The SEC expects to propose, this month, new rules for Form ADV, the main disclosure document that investment advisers must file with the agency, said Robert Plaze, associate director of the SEC. The SEC expects the form ultimately will be available on the Internet for investors to review, Plaze said. Plaze spoke here March 4 at an industry conference sponsored by The Practicing Law Institute of New York.

Who says the lion will never lie down with the lamb?

NEW YORK - Mutual fund companies that provide products and information online need to be careful they are in full compliance with SEC and NASD regulations because both organizations are starting to interpret their own regulations more narrowly than they have in the past, industry lawyers said.

The SEC has put mutual fund advisers on notice that it is keeping a close eye on the establishment of boards of directors for new funds.

Mutual fund companies providing 401(k)'s or other types of defined contribution plans may be in for a rash of lawsuits foiled by unhappy 401(k) investors, say industry executives and consultants.

NEW YORK - Mutual fund companies will have until March 31 to comment on a privacy provision in the Financial Services Modernization Act that will prevent fund companies from sharing customer information with third-party non-affiliates.