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The theme of the ICI General Membership Meeting this year is "A Matter of Trust," a trust that has been broken in light of recent events, namely the flood of improper trading uncovered by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and the Securities and Exchange Commission, CBSMarketWatch reports. The shadow of the scandal and the pending sweeping reforms will be the hot-button issues at this year’s meeting.

In an interview with MarketWatch, ICI Chairman Paul Haaga Jr. said, "We’re embarrassed. We need to do a better job. You can’t diminish it, because shareholders got harmed."

Instead of stock market plunges that made funds tumble the past three years, the only downfall of the fund industry of late has been its own transgressions. Still, leaders in the fund industry are resisting some of the SEC’s proposed reforms. For instance, many in the industry are not in favor of a requirement that would require fund boards to have independent chairman, Haaga said.

"The mere fact that we’ve had a scandal doesn’t make every reform proposal a good one," he told CBSMarketWatch. "It ought to be up to the board; they ought to be able to decide."

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