Regulation

Money market mutual fund managers holding onto short-term debt they are unable to unload into the market will have to continue to hold on tight, because the Federal Reserve is not going to extend its $540 billion in loans to purchase the paper through the Money Market Investor Funding Facility until next month.

In a poll of bank wealth managers a day after Barack Obama was elected to become the 44th president of the United States, 50% said they expect their high-net-worth clients to be negatively impacted by the new administration, SEI found. Twelve percent said they expect a positive impact, but 38% said they were sure whether it will be positive or negative.

President-elect Barack Obama is expected to begin working on passing an economic stimulus package even before he takes office.

Long-short money managers have been breathing a sigh of relief with the end to the Securities and Exchange Commission's ban on short sales of financial stocks. The three-week SEC ban on the short sale of some 1,000 financial stocks that ended Oct. 9 had wreaked havoc among money managers.

Spurred by Americans' investment losses this year, Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) is calling for a re-examination of 401(k) plans that could lead to a radical overhaul of the popular tax-deferred savings vehicles, Pensions & Investments magazine reported last week.

Goldman Sachs Asset Management LP plans to launch a new municipal closed-end fund as part of its existing lineup of tax-exempt mutual funds, according to an Oct. 24 registration with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The addition, which is to be called the Goldman Sachs Municipal Opportunity Fund, will bring the firm's number of tax-free mutual funds to six.

The Investment Company Institute announced Tuesday that it is forming a money market mutual fund working group, to be chaired by Vanguard Chairman John Brennan.

Unlike most other markets around the world where hedge funds are allowed to take almost any risks they deem fit, including leveraging their holdings to place outsized bets, Brazil’s hedge fund managers must comply with strict parameters, Dow Jones reports. That means they cannot take margin or collateral calls.

In response to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s charges that it spent more than $600,000 on improper gifts and entertainment for Fidelity Investments traders, Lazard Capital Markets is paying $2.8 million to settle the charges.

NEW YORK - The fragmented, free-for-all liquidity in the marketplace is aggravating the extreme volatility in the stock market, and experts say a more organized, specialized system is needed.