SEC: Are All Mutual Funds Regulated Equally?

The Securities and Exchange Commission will hold a roundtable discussion to address whether all mutual funds are treated equally, despite geography, investor class and company size.   The event, which will be broadcast from the SEC’s website, begins at 9 a.m. Eastern on Tuesday, June 12. Materials will be posted at www.sec.gov/spotlight/mutualrecognition.htm.   In an era of increasing cross-border investing, the panelists will discuss whether retail and institutional investors, global and regional broker/dealers, and funds on U.S. or non-U.S. exchanges are treated equally.   The first panel will address the increase in participation of American investors in markets overseas, and will include representatives from The Vanguard Group, NASDAQ, the New York Stock Exchange, the London Stock Exchange, The Philadelphia Stock Exchange and Brooklyn Law School.   The second panel will focus on how non-U.S. broker/dealer access to U.S. investors affects domestic markets, and will include speakers from global companies such as Citigroup, UBS Investment Bank, and Auerbach Grayson, domestic companies such as E*Trade , Evensky Katz and Hilliard Lyons.   The final panel will include representatives from the legal community discussing how to compare and measure the equitable treatment meted out by regulators in various markets.