Regulation

NEW YORK - The whole world will be in a recession throughout 2009, economists say, but it will be the U.S. and its strong dollar that lead the world to recovery sometime in 2010.

Millionaires and affluent investors suffered steep losses in 2008, and most, particularly Baby Boomers, are rolling their remaining assets into cash and stable-value investments for the foreseeable future.

President-elect Barack Obama's transition team is working closely with House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank and other lawmakers to make sure that municipal debt is included in the federal government's economic recovery programs.

Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Francis Galvin filed an administrative proceeding Tuesday against Reserve Funds and its founder Bruce Bent, accusing them of lying to investors about the dire straights of their investments in Lehman Brothers.

Variable annuity sales sank in 2008 as the stock market's swoon scared investors off.

The Federal Reserve has allowed more companies to take part in its program to add more liquidity to money market mutual funds.

The Investment Company Institute, along with the UK's Investment Management Association and Australia's Investment and Financial Services Association, has released a combined statement in support of prudent regulatory oversight of short selling.

Standard Chartered’s Hong Kong division has agreed to reimburse $320,000 to 1,000 investors who were allegedly disadvantaged by the firm’s permitting Stone Castle, a Millennium Partners subsidiary, to market time 24 mutual funds managed by ACM Funds and Scudder Global Opportunities Funds.

Talk about leaving with an impression. The likely legacy of Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox, when he steps down this year after taking on the position in 2005, is likely to be that of ineffectiveness during the worst economic period since the Great Depression, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has received an emergency court order to halt a suspected Ponzi scheme targeted to Haitian-American investors.