Regulation

House Passes Baker Bill, Updated to Address Scandal

Think mutual fund investors are the only ones trying to decipher which sponsors have been naughty and which have been nice?

WASHINGTON - Testifying before the Senate Banking Committee last week, SEC Chairman William Donaldson called for the formation of a new risk assessment unit to circumvent abuses in mutual funds and other investments.

Members of the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly (418-2) Wednesday to approve the Mutual Funds Integrity and Fee Transparency Act, also known as the Baker Bill.

Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow on Tuesday called for swift punishment for individuals convicted in the widening mutual fund scandal, Reuters reports.

Fund managers placing their own interests ahead of those invested in the funds.

Brace yourselves. Recent problems in the mutual fund industry with market timing arbitrageurs could spill over into the variable annuity industry.

The mutual fund industry, while still viable and in position to bounce back, needs drastic changes and needs them now, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman William H. Donaldson said in a sometimes scathing, sometimes positive speech.

NASD Probes B/D Sales Of College Savings Plans

Fund industry executives who thought they might dodge the scandal bullet had their odds reduced drastically last week.