Regulation

The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved the proposal of a new rule designed “to prohibit certain material conflicts of interest between those who package and sell asset-backed securities (ABS) and those who invest in them.”

Investment advisor advocates are breathing easier after the Department of Labor announced Monday that it has pulled its current proposal on the definition of a fiduciary off the table. The agency will take up the issue in early 2012 and repropose a fiduciary definition after more industry input.

Investment advisor advocates are breathing easier after the Department of Labor announced Monday that it has pulled its current proposal on the definition of a fiduciary off the table. The agency will take up the issue in early 2012 and repropose a fiduciary definition after more industry input.

A group of regulators and lobbyists speaking at an industry conference this weekend laid out a possible timetable for the implementation of new Dodd-Frank-related regulations affecting financial planners.

The Investment Company Institute hosted the 2011 Tax and Accounting Conference September 11–14 at the JW Marriott Desert Springs in Palm Desert, California. Here are a few of the many people who made it the place the discuss tax, accounting, and regulatory developments. See the photo gallery here.

The unstable economic, political and investing climate dominated the sessions at this year's Investment Company Institute Tax and Accounting Conference.

PALM DESERT, CALIF.-"The past 60, 90 days have been the craziest that risk managers have ever faced in their careers, in terms of the national debate over the U.S. debt ceiling, market volatility and a host of other key risks asset managers are now facing," said Joseph A. Carrier, chief risk officer at Legg Mason.

SAN DIEGO--The FPA Experience 2011 annual conference here this week had one of the most colorful Americans in recent history as its first keynote speaker: Frank Abagnale Jr., the notorious imposter and check counterfeiter featured in the hit film, "Catch Me If You Can."

PALM DESERT, CALIF.—As investors have fled equity funds, the industry’s move into alternative investments has become one of the biggest concerns of directors of the board.

Mortgage real-estate investment trusts have been exempt from the Investment Act of 1940, which regulates the fees that can be charged to investors and limits the amount of leverage a fund can use. But the Securities and Exchange Commission said last month that it had initiated a review of that exemption, as mortgage REITs are beginning to look more like mutual funds.