Practice

The Reserve Management Company has begun making distributions to shareholders at an initial rate of 50 cents on the dollar, and its president says the company plans to pay the rest soon.

The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC) will begin publishing aggregate market data on credit derivatives, starting Nov. 4.

American International Group Inc. (AIG) is rapidly depleting the $123 billion in loans it has received from the Federal Reserve, according to a report in the New York Times.

Investors’ list of financial concerns is growing longer. Added to the fear of not having enough money in retirement or being able to pay for their children’s college are concerns about healthcare and declining values in their savings and homes.

Bank of America has sued two former bond managers at Bear Stearns, Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin, who unloaded shares in subprime mortgage instruments they personally held in bond funds just prior to those instruments losing $1 billion in value.

Asset management firms are increasing their sales and marketing budgets for the defined contribution investment only marketplace by 28% this year, according to a report from Sway Research called “Best Practices in DCIO Sales and Marketing.”

The saga of Samuel Israel continues, with the $450 million Bayou hedge fund swindler now being sent to federal medical prison forpsychiatric evaluation. U.S. White Plains District Court Judge Kenneth Karas has sent Israel to Butner North Carolina Federal Medical Center for a complete medical and psychological evaluation, which could take up to 90 days.

General Motors recently announced it would stop matching employees’ 401(k) contributions. Sadly, that’s likely to become the norm at many companies, especially if the economic crisis deepens and lasts into next year or beyond, USA Today reports.

Nearly half of the senior citizens eligible for Social Security payments that begin at age 62 plan to begin drawing down those assets immediately, rather than waiting prudently for the higher payments that top off at age 66 for those born between 1943 and 1954, according to a survey of 600 Americans between the ages of 55 and 69 that Fidelity Investments sponsored.

Mary Schapiro, chief executive officer of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, recommended that the brokerage industry be continue to be self-regulatory, but overseen by one tier looking for systemic risk and another scrutinizing business conduct. Schapiro made the remarks at the annual meeting of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association.