Gov't Office Warns of Costly Timing Curbs

August 11, 2004, 1:00 a.m. EDT 1 Min Read

The Government Accountability Office told a Congressional subcommittee that proposed SEC guidelines to curb market timing and late trading could harm shareholders. Mutual fund investors could face another increase in administrative expenses if regulators succeed in implementing new standards for deterring market timers, CBS MarketWatch reports.

The GAO said in a public statement earlier this week that guidelines proposed by the Securities and Exchange Commission to deter market timing and late trading could harm long-term mutual fund investors by layering more costs on mutual fund companies.

Pension plans are particularly susceptible to cost increases, according to the GAOs report to a House Ways and Means subcommittee, because retirement platforms typically lack the technical and compliance infrastructures to monitor daily transactions for problematic activities. Pension plans are also unequipped to bring lending transactions up to the SECs proposed guidelines.

GAO officials in the report expressed concern that proposed SEC rules requiring a 4 p.m. cutoff time for mutual fund trades and 2% redemption fee for fund shares redeemed within five business days of an initial purchase could undermine long-term shareholders by triggering higher costs.

The good news for fund providers is that the GAOs report said regulators are contemplating modifications to proposed guidelines that take into account issues raised by the report.

The staff of Money Management Executive ("MME") has prepared these capsule summaries based on reports published by the news sources to which they are attributed. Those news sources are not associated with MME, and have not prepared, sponsored, endorsed, or approved these summaries.