SEC to Ask Investors for Opinions on Breakpoints

While the SEC is known for holding public comment periods, it’s now holding a truly public comment period.

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman said Tuesday the agency will seek the opinions of the nation’s 91 million mutual fund investors over the next 60 days on what ideal point-of-sale and trade-confirmation reports should look like for broker-sold funds, Dow Jones reports.

"We’re going to make it very, very easy for investors to comment," Susan Wyderko, director of the SEC’s office of investor education and assistance, told Dow Jones. "We’ve never done this before."

On www.sec.gov, investors will be able to find sample forms, designed for ease of use and understanding. One would spell out the fees as well as the conflicts of interest for funds sold through a broker. The second would be a confirmation report modeled after a stock confirmation ticket.

While little known, the SEC has held focus groups before, going back five and six years ago when it began market-testing "streamlined" prospectuses.

Shock Ahead

"They are going to be shocked that this is going on," said John Markese, president of the American Association of Individual Investors, with which the SEC is cooperating on this project. The National Association of Investors Corp. is also involved.

As is always the case, the SEC is also seeking industry input.

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