Funds Scrambling to Meet Compliance Deadline

The clock is ticking toward the deadline for mutual funds to meet compliance guidelines required by newly adopted securities industry regulations, and many asset managers are now scrambling as the Oct, 5 deadline rapidly approaches, Dow Jones Newswires reports.
A newly released survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers examining more than 200 mutual fund companies' levels of preparedness shows that many firms are still behind the eight ball in terms of meeting the deadline.
According to the survey, 70% of the firms have already identified a new compliance officer, as required by the Securities and Exchange Commission's new rule, but only 38% have made their selections.
But the most daunting goal for the firms, according to the survey, is installing a new method of overseeing compliance practices for administrative and recordkeeping activities. The SEC will soon require firms that sell mutual funds, transfer agents and specialists that price securities to meet the new compliance guidelines.
Searches for new compliance officers seem to be concentrated on candidates with knowledge of the mutual fund industry rather than previous experience as a compliance officer. Slightly more than 10% of the respondents identified previous legal experience as a necessary quality for compliance officer candidates.