Regulation

Especially now that the news has leaked that hedge fund managers are raking in incredible salaries-some making more than $1 billion a year-Congress is undoubtedly going to be taking a serious look at increasing regulation of hedge funds, according to a number of reports. And that has many hedge fund managers stepping up their political contributions, hiring lobbyists and, in some cases, forming their own political action committees, according to The Economic Times.

The NASD fined two Fidelity Investments broker/dealers-Fidelity Investments Institutional Services Co. and Fidelity Distributors Corp.-$400,000 for distributing misleading performance information about investment plans sold primarily to military personnel.

How many regulators does it take to develop a clear, easy-to-read privacy notice?

A Kentucky lawsuit decided in early 2006, and a similar tax case now being tried in North Carolina, could spell the demise of single-state municipal bond funds as we know them.

NEW YORK-Fund companies can anticipate fewer lawsuits from shareholders over what they claim are excessive fees, according to panelists at the Practising Law Institute's "Investment Management Institute 2007" here.

NEW YORK-Soft dollars stay at the top of the "to do" list for examiners at the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2007, said Gene A. Gohlke, associate director of the SEC's Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations.

It's been three years since the Securities and Exchange Commission began requiring funds to annually disclose their proxy voting records. When the measure was passed, many dismissed it as a mere administrative nuisance, reasoning that even if investors eventually began to pour through funds' voting records, the day when they would be able to systematically make sense of the information, let alone actually be interested in it, was a long way off.

Although the Securities and Exchange Commission revealed the findings of two cost/benefit studies it commissioned on the proposed independent directors rule late last year, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce sought access to the complete report, including any records supporting the decision to undertake the studies. The SEC decided not to share the information with the U.S. Chamber, a decision it is now appealing.

It's been three years since the Securities and Exchange Commission began requiring funds to annually disclose their proxy voting records. When the measure was passed, many dismissed it as a mere administrative nuisance, reasoning that even if investors eventually began to pour through funds' voting records, the day when they would be able to systematically make sense of the information, let alone actually be interested in it, was a long way off.

The comment period for the independent directors rule ended a month ago, and as the Securities and Exchange Commis-sion nears a vote on the measure, speculation is increasing that it will bend to the industry's fierce opposition to having fund boards run by independent chairmen. SEC Chairman Christopher Cox recently said that one alternative might be appointing a lead independent director, and industry insiders have indicated that the SEC might merely call having an independent chairman a "best practice."