Special Program Root Tag

Wachovia Bank has been named a defendant in a potential class-action lawsuit that charges that the bank acted in its own self-interest without regard to its responsibilities to the sole beneficiary of two discretionary trust accounts originally created in 1990 for a boy who had been shot and crippled and relied on those trust assets to cover future medical and educational expenses.

Technology funds are ready to prove to investors that they've learned their lesson, come back with stronger fundamentals and seize on a development that rivals the Internet, according to Rudy D. Torrijos III, a vice president for emerging growth at Delaware Investments.

Kenneth Corba, the former chief executive officer of PEA Capital, agreed Monday to pay $200,000 to settle with the Securities and Exchange Commission for allowing hedge fund Canary Capital Partners to market time $4 billion worth of trades in PIMCO funds.

A lawsuit that investors brought against Merrill Lynch financial advisers for promoting a number of mutual funds that paid them extra money to be promoted, including those from Dreyfus, Lord Abbett and BlackRock, has been dismissed.

Fred Alger Management has reached a tentative settlement agreement with New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and the Securities and Exchange Commission for allowing market timing and late trading in its mutual funds. Without admitting or denying liability, the company agreed to reimburse $30 million to fund shareholders, pay a $10 million fee and reduce fees by $1 million a year for five years. The company said it would have no further comment until a final agreement is approved by the SEC and Spitzer's office.

Touchstone Hires Durand As Manager of Sales Desk

The National Securities Clearing Corp. (NSCC) plans to have a solution in place by mid-August to help mutual fund companies comply with the Securities and Exchange Commission's Rule 22c-2. The rule, scheduled to take effect on Oct. 16, requires funds to monitor accounts for market timing and set up agreements with intermediaries to respond to inquiries about questionable trades.

Ameriprise Financial subsidiary RiverSource Investments has introduced 10 new funds, the majority of which focus on retirement.

Because of regulations that prevent them from speaking with the press, hedge funds are hamstrung when it comes to defending themselves against misleading or negative articles, and they are tired of being portrayed as market manipulators or scam artists who live lavish lifestyles, Reuters reports.

Even if the Securities and Exchange Commission decides against the independent chairman rule, most fund companies that have already put an independent chairman in place aren't likely to change that policy, The Wall Street Journal reports.

More and more, companies that switch 401(k) providers move to mutual fund companies, Dow Jones reports.

In its investigation into ING's acceptance of undisclosed fees from mutual funds offered in its retirement programs, including the one it runs in its own state, New Hampshire regulators discovered that the firm allowed market timing in a number of the funds going back to 2001, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Vanguard increased its annual bonuses for partnership units in 2005 to $81.40, up 13% from $72.05 in 2004, but the amount is still almost 20% lower than the $100 per partnership unit that Vanguard Chairman John Brennan set as a goal in 2002, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

A lawsuit that investors brought against Merrill Lynch financial advisers for promoting a number of mutual funds that paid them extra money to be promoted, has been dismissed, Reuters reports.

New York State United Teachers settled with the attorney general's office Tuesday, in a probe into how it accepted $3 million in shelf-space payments each year from ING Group to endorse its annuities without disclosing the arrangement to its members. The investigation found that the union even, in fact, took steps to conceal the pact, according New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's lawsuit.

The Securities and Exchange Commission voted unanimously to revisit the controversial independent chairman rule, reopening it for 60 days to public comment on its costs and "any issue related to the underlying purpose of the independence requirements, which is the protection of funds and fund shareholders."

Chinese regulators are considering limiting to one the number of mutual fund firms that companies may own a stake in, down from the two currently permissible, the South China Morning Post reports. The current laws allow a controlling stake in a first company and a smaller stake in a second.

Thirty-eight percent of taxpayers calculate capital gains incorrectly, a study of 2001 tax returns by the Government Accountability Office shows.

After getting burned by overloading on tech and telecom stocks at the height of the bull market, one would think that Janus Capital Group would have learned its lesson, Kiplinger's reports.

Kenneth Corba, the former chief executive officer of PEA Capital, agreed Monday to pay $200,000 to settle with the Securities and Exchange Commission for allowing hedge fund Canary Capital Partners to market time $4 billion worth of trades in Pimco funds.