Regulation

WASHINGTON — Given another day to consider the Treasury Department’s plan to backstop Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, lawmakers were considerably less enthusiastic and seemed likely to make significant changes. Some Senate Banking Committee members were downright skeptical, arguing that the plan’s costs must be pinpointed.

Turning the collection of market data into a competitive business is a fatally flawed idea, said the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association last week in response to a Securities and Exchange Commission proposal that seeks to do so.

How serious are liquidity problems with money market mutual funds?

The ongoing credit crisis saga has taken a tremendous toll on hedge funds due to their exposure to structured mortgage-backed assets-and for those heading or parsing trades overseas to avoid U.S. taxes: Beware.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke called for a stronger central bank last week, and outlined a proposal that would provide the Fed with more regulatory control over large New York-based financial companies that are not associated with commercial banks, like Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Lehman Brothers.

According to a study released by the Investment Company Institute, mutual funds voted overwhelmingly in support for management proposals in 2007, yet a mere 38% of shareholder proposals were backed.

The Asian Development Bank has launched a new environmentally based mutual fund.The Future Carbon Fund is tied to environmental initiatives from the Kyoto Protocol, which is set to expire at the end of 2012.

A source for the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) recently stated that the CSRC only suggested that senior mutual fund officials remain in China until the Olympics in early August to keep a stable market, they are in no which way barring them from leaving the country.

In a report released yesterday on what went wrong at the ratings agencies responsible for grading instruments tied to subprime debt, the Securities and Exchange Commission found a breakdown in communications.

Three high-profile staff members at the Investment Company Institute have already left or are planning on leaving the mutual fund lobbying group in the near future, Defined Contributions & Savings Plan Alert reports.