Regulation

WASHINGTON – House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank is preparing a $35 billion housing package that would expand the government's role in combating the sub-prime mortgage crisis.

Oppenheimer & Co. has been ordered to pay $250,000 for failing to supervise the improper market timing of mutual fund shares from January through September 2003, according to FINRA. The firm has also been ordered to pay $4.25 million in restitution to more than 60 mutual fund companies.

The Securities and Exchange Commission said it wants to require investment advisers to provide clients with online brochures describing their services, fees and conflicts of interest in a reader-friendly format.

Investors holding municipal bonds directly or through mutual funds could see their returns diminished by ratings agencies' recent downgrades of troubled bond insurers, according to a report prepared for Congress.

WASHINGTON-Democratic leaders of the House Financial Services Committee are exploring creating a federal regulator or modifying a multi-state compact to increase oversight and provide more uniform standards for insurers of municipal bonds and other financial products.

The Supreme Court's decision in Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC v. Scientific Atlanta will mean that mutual fund companies, could be better protected from class-action investor suits involving third parties that support the administration and running of a fund's trading floor and back office.

BOSTON - Fund companies will need to plan ahead to ensure they can meet new regulations on fund disclosure without costly delays to investors and brokers.

The rapid growth in the exchange-traded fund arena is increasing the complexity of capital gains taxes, writes the Wall Street Journal.

In a move that could change the way brokers and advisers sell mutual funds, the Securities and Exchange Commission has released a new report examining public and industry perspectives on investment advisors and broker/dealers.

Two lawsuits and two FINRA arbitration claims filed against the executives, directors, chief compliance officer, portfolio managers and independent auditor of three open-end funds and four closed-end funds managed by an affiliate of Memphis, Tenn., broker/dealer Morgan Keegan & Co., may be the tip of the subprime iceberg for the mutual fund industry.