Special Program Root Tag

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that BISYS Group is paying $25 million in disgorgement and interest to settle charges of violating financial reporting, books and records and internal control provisions of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

As the use of derivatives in mutual funds continues to grow, so will buy-side firms' reliance on third parties to handle post-trade processing, along with the search for employees who truly understand these complex trading contracts, according to a report from Celent.

Forensic research, which analyzes companies for accounting irregularities, is gaining traction in the financial industry again, as the market begins to turn flat, experts say.

Money Management Executive this week has released a comprehensive, unique set of 529 data to help mutual fund companies, financial advisers and their clients more accurately plan college savings in both the short- and long-term.

Alpha magazine dropped its first shoe when it released the salaries of the top 100 hedge fund managers, with the top master of the universe, James Simons, earning an astonishing $1.7 billion in 2006 and the top 25 an average of more than half a billion. In 2006, the compensation of this top 25 soared 57% from the year before and 127% from 2004.

SEC to Create Office Focused on Restitution

Lee to Step Down as SEC's L.A. Regional Director

As Money Management Executive launches this year's set of State Tuition Index and Datasheet reports, a new paradigm for evaluating college savings plan is introduced. With MME's TuitionMAR (minimally acceptable return) statistics, a set of core absolute return benchmarks is now available to assist mutual fund companies, 529 plan sponsors and financial planners in evaluating the ongoing success of a college savings plan investment.

Call it trickle-down economics. As the hedge fund industry continues to grow, its distribution channels are shifting, and its aim is getting lower when it comes to the net worth of investors, according to a report from Tiburon Strategic Advisors.

Mutual fund companies and their financial adviser partners might start thinking about targeting engaged couples as clients, as it benefits couples to talk about finances before they get married and it is a way to reach new clients, experts said.

A federal judge has rejected a Securities and Exchange Commission case against two mutual fund executives, citing deficiencies in the complaint, the National Law Journal reports.

The National Association of Securities Dealers collected roughly half the amount of fines in 2006 compared to 2005, according to the Associated Press.

The Save Darfur Coalition has been expanding its campaign to prompt mutual funds, pension plans and endowments to divest holdings in Sudan, the Associated Press reports. And while it’s been having some success, primarily with pension plans, not all of the asset managers with stakes in companies in the area are willing to sell out.

Investors increasingly seek the set-and-forget index fund with a twist: tweaked market capitalization, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Mergers and acquisitions among Asian financial services firms will increase over the next five years, in spite of high valuations, according to a PricewaterhouseCoopers survey, Dow Jones reports.

China agreed to further open its markets to American products and services, including mutual fund and other financial services firms, Agence France-Presse reports.

Whereas individual investors and even hedge funds have typically been passive in Europe, they are increasingly speaking up, The New York Times reports.

With the release of Alpha magazine’s list of the salaries of hedge fund managers in 2006—the top manager, James Simons, earning $1.7 billion—the question arises: Are these guys worth it, The New York Times reports. Simons’ salary is roughly the same amount the U.S. government spent maintaining the nation’s national parks.

Joe Mansueto, chairman of Morningstar, has even bigger plans for his company: to deliver a "seamless, integrated solution" like Microsoft Office, the Chicago Sun Times reports.

MFS Investment Management, which had been on the market until last October, is no longer looking for a buyer, the firm’s chairman, Robert Pozen, tells Bloomberg.