Special Program Root Tag

WASHINGTON — The Investment Company Institute last Monday urged the Securities and Exchange Commission to expand its proposed credit rating agency rules on structured products to include municipal securities, and to increase the secondary market disclosure requirements for the municipal market.

NEW YORK - A lot of people are wondering when the U.S. will adopt the same international standards for financial reporting that Europe and the rest of the world seem to be moving toward.

Massachusetts sued Merrill Lynch on July 31 on the charges of fraud and “dishonest and unethical” conduct, Reuters reports.

Luis A. Aguilar, a former partner at McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP in Atlanta, was sworn in as a member of the Securities and Exchange Commission on July 31.

Assets of money market mutual funds fell by $5.08 billion to rest at $3.502 trillion during the week ending July 30, according to the Investment Company Institute.

U.S. junk bond mutual funds saw net inflows of $153 million in the week ending July 30, according to AMG Data Services.

U.S. Rep. George Miller of California is probably the best friend 401(k) investors have on Capitol Hill.

Despite market opposition, Argentina recently cut tax breaks for mutual funds and financial trusts, satisfying the center-left government promise to raise taxes on financial earnings, Reuters reports.

The managed account solutions industry needs to adopt communications standards, according to a white paper from the Money Management Institute (MMI).

Pax World Management Corporation has settled charges by the Securities and Exchange Commission that two of its funds, Pax World Growth and Pax World High Yield, purchased securities that violated their fund policies.

The energy and commodities sectors have dropped significantly below their 200-day moving averages and are now in sell territory, says Tom Lydon, editor of ETF Trends and president of Global Trends Investment.

Citi has expanded its proprietary managed accounts connectivity hub with CitiConnect, specifically designed for separately managed accounts (SMAs).

India’s booming fund management industry has started to decline as the Indian stock market has plunged nearly a third so far this year, Reuters reports.

One year after one of the hedge fund industry's most talked-about collapses, failed fund manager Jeffrey Larson is raising capital for a new fund.

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox and US Secretary of Labor Elaine L Choa have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to formalize and strengthen the cooperation and relationship between their two agencies. The purpose of the MOU is to share information, related to investments and retirement, to help protect Americans’ $5.8 trillion in retirement assets.

Pacific Investment Management Co., or PIMCO, is embarking in the ETF market.

Fund management firm Philam Asset Management Inc. (PAMI), a division of American International Group, is now offering investors a Personal Investment Program (PIP), aimed at offering investors an affordable savings plan for their future.

FundQuest Inc. said 68 advisory firms have made its unified managed account services available to their advisers. The most recent client to sign up is United Planners Financial Services of America, an independent broker/dealer and investment adviser in Scottsdale, Ariz. FundQuest announced its agreement with United Planners on Tuesday.

TIAA-CREF’s ads for its Individual Retirement Accounts inferred that government and military employees who contributed to their Thrift Savings Plan were up against a time clock because the TSPs “retire.” Fidelity’s ads simply call the TSP “old.” TIAA-CREF has pulled its ads, but Fidelity, claiming all of its communications go through legal review, is still running them.

Faith-based mutual funds have experienced significant growth in a short amount of time, increasing from $500 million in 1997, to approximately $17.5 billion today, according to McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.