Regulation

BOSTON - The SEC may ease its original stand on the amount of personal information mutual fund directors must disclose in SEC filings about the business relationships of members of their extended families, according to a high-ranking SEC official.

BOSTON - A U.S. District Court judge has expressed skepticism about a shareholder's claim that Fidelity Investments of Boston had biased its mutual funds' independent directors and charged funds excessive fees.

The Maryland Court of Appeals should uphold the constitutionality of a state law on mutual fund directors, according to mutual fund firms and fund and securities industry trade groups.

Broker/dealers could face pressure to provide investors with an unprecedented amount of detail about the special sales payments they receive from mutual funds and mutual fund companies as the result of a class action lawsuit that is moving slowly through the federal courts.

The SEC has suffered a pair of setbacks in its attempts to discourage intermediaries from recommending that their clients sell funds after holding them for only a short time and then use the proceeds to buy new, hot-performing funds.

The mutual fund industry is rallying to support a Maryland law that says mutual fund directors do not lose their independence because they get paid for serving on several fund boards in the same mutual fund complex.

The SEC last week won a key case in its efforts to discourage registered representatives from selling class B shares of mutual funds when cheaper A shares are available.

The Investment Company Institute has announced its support for an SEC proposal that would allow joint liability insurance coverage to be purchased on behalf of a fund adviser, its officers and its fund directors.

The mutual fund world can expect to hear and read a lot more in the next few weeks about the independence of mutual fund directors, thanks to several events.

Mutual fund investors are better served by following a "buy and hold" investment strategy rather than moving in and out of top performing funds, according to the SEC.