Regulation

Mutual funds should be required to report their fees in dollar figures in their semi-annual reports to shareholders, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission study on fund fees issued last week.

Although the SEC's recently-adopted directors rules do not break new ground, they do codify existing standards and will likely encourage independent directors to seek independent legal representation, according to industry lawyers.

NEW YORK - The SEC this year will finalize its proposed rules that funds invest, under normal market conditions, at least 80 percent of their assets in a manner consistent with the name of the fund, said Paul Roye, director of the SEC's division of investment management.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is making minor changes to the new Form ADV rules it adopted in September requiring investment advisers to file the form electronically, the SEC announced late last month.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has adopted new independent directors rules that will require that a fund board's membership be made up of a majority of independent directors instead of the current 40 percent requirement.

When Arthur Levitt announced that he was stepping down as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission last month, Washington lawyers predictably began speculating on his replacement almost immediately. It might be some time, however, before President-elect George Bush makes the appointment.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is implementing minor changes to the new Form ADV rules it adopted in September, which require investment advisers to file the form electronically, the SEC has announced.

An administrative law judge has revoked the registration to operate as an investment adviser of Piper Capital Management of Minneapolis, a unit of U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray, and fined the firm $2.005 million. The actions, by Judge H. Peter Young, came in an initial decision with regard to allegations brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The SEC's division of enforcement, in the decision, characterized the proceeding as "one of the largest and most complex it has ever conducted."

The U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of New York has granted a motion to dismiss a lawsuit charging Prudential Life Insurance Company of America of Newark, N.J. with attaching excessive fees to its variable annuities.

The National Association of Securities Dealers Regulation last week issued a complaint against Dean Witter Reynolds of New York alleging the company used deceptive practices in the marketing of its proprietary bond funds known as Term Trusts.