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The NASD said on Thursday that is has fined Boston-based State Street Research (SSR) $1 million and will receive an additional $533,000 in restitution from the firm for not doing enough to prevent market timing in its funds.

Securities and Exchange Commissioner Cynthia A. Glassman is concerned that requiring hedge fund registration might detract from the agency’s ability to inspect mutual funds.

The Oregon treasurer's office said Wednesday that it has hired OppenheimerFunds to replace Strong Capital Management as a manager of its 529 college savings plan.

The No. 1 U.S. public pension fund placed a maligned Franklin Resources unit on probation Tuesday, pending further investigation.

The New York Stock Exchanges’s "trade-through" rule is outdated and should be nixed, a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives wrote in a letter to SEC Chairman William Donaldson last week.

Amid scrutiny on fees and public and political outcry over inflated costs to investors, the Investment Company Institute issued a report on Wednesday stating that the average actual cost borne by stock mutual fund shareholders has plummeted 45% since 1980.

North Carolina State Treasurer Richard Moore blasted the fund industry for paying ICI dues from investors’ pockets, while ex-SEC chairman Harvey Pitt voiced concerns about his former agency’s ability to deal with outside influences such as New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, Reuters reports.

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s latest probe into Massachusetts Financial Services centers on its financial arrangements with several top brokerage houses, the company has admitted in a filing with the Commission.

The head of the world’s No. 1 mutual fund company said on Tuesday that forcing firms to hire independent chairmen might not be the end-all solution to fixing problems in the industry.

While they expect recovery in earnings and the overall economy to continue, global fund managers have slowly shifted toward more defensive strategies, according to survey results released Tuesday by Merrill Lynch.

New Jersey regulators Tuesday filed civil fraud charges against the PIMCO mutual fund group, alleging that the company defrauded investors by allowing a hedge fund to engage in improper trading.

Mutuals.com announced on Tuesday that it reshuffled its fund manager lineup last week amid allegations that two of its managers engaged in late trading.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz.¾ Investors and financial planners have yet to reap the full benefits of annuity lifetime payouts, but they re slowly getting the message. thanks to Ben Stein, this year’s honorary chairman of the National Retirement Planning Coalition.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has received offers from several high-profile New York Stock Exchange firms to settle improper trading allegations, The Wall Street Journal reports. And so far, the SEC's answer has been "not good enough."

The editors of Money Management Executive want to know how Fundgate has affected your sales environment, customer service approach and communications at your firm. Our first questionnaire on Eliot Spitzer, the Investment Company Institute and regulatory reform was successfully completed last month. Keep an eye on MME for the results.

The New Jersey attorney general's office is expected to file charges against Allianz Dresdner Asset Management, parent company of the Pimco Funds, on Tuesday for allowing market-timing business, the Associated Press reports.

Employees handling three FleetBoston mutual funds, including one designed for kids, allowed market timing, The Wall Street Journal reports, citing the company itself and individuals privy to the trades.

Franklin Resources Inc.’s legal problems were extended Thursday to the tune of a massive class-action lawsuit filed by California investors stemming from market-timing issues.

The global hedge-fund industry saw record inflows of an estimated $60 billion in net assets in 2003, according to a preliminary report by Tass, the research arm of U.K.-based Tremont Capital Management.

The combined assets of exchange-traded funds fell just shy of $160 billion in December, topping November's inflow of $132.7 billion and increasing nearly 50% on December 2002's inflow of $102.1 billion, according to the ICI.