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The Securities and Exchange Commission has received an emergency court order to halt a suspected Ponzi scheme targeted to Haitian-American investors.

Susan Markel, chief accountant for the Securities and Exchange Commission's enforcement division, will leave the agency in January after 14 years of service to become a managing director in the corporate investigations practice of AlixPartners LLP, a global business advisory firm.

The Timothy Plan, a Christian mutual fund family that shuns video games, has published an extensive and descriptive list of video games that promote violence and sex.

The personal fortunes of the 1,000 wealthiest people in Britain have tumbled by more than 50% in 2008, according to the 2009 Sunday Times Rich List.

Thanks to an independent effort by New York insurance regulators, MetLife expects to reduce by about $1.8 billion, or more than 30%, the amount it must post to back up its variable annuity living benefit guarantees, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Global research firm Morningstar has acquired U.K.-based Tenfore Systems, a privately owned provider of market data feeds and technology, for $20.9 million.

A consortium comprised of New York investment firms J.C. Flowers & Co., Dune Capital Management and Paulson & Co. is set to acquire distressed IndyMac Bancorp, according to published reports.

State Street Corp. has introduced 15 exchange-traded funds this year and says it will start more in 2009 despite a large, industrywide decline in ETF assets through the first 11 months of this year.

Total assets of money market mutual funds surged $34.40 billion to $3.808 trillion for the week ending Dec. 23, according to the Investment Company Institute.

Japanese mutual funds are headed for record declines this year as assets across the board have suffered losses from a combination of a global recession, plummeting interest rates and a surging yen.

The Securities and Exchange Commission may bring enforcement action against the Reserve Management Company and its managers for possible violations of federal securities laws.Reserve Management president Bruce Bent and his two sons Bruce Bent II and Arthur Bent III, who are senior executives at the firm, have said they will cooperate with an SEC investigation, but "expect to defend vigorously against the allegations."The Reserve's Primary Fund nearly created a panic in mid September when it announced that it "broke the buck," falling below the implied guarantee of $1 per share. Billions of dollars in assets flew out of other money market mutual funds in the following days, but money fund assets have since recovered at most shops, in some cases soaring.Since then, virtually all of Reserve's funds have frozen withdrawals and announced plans to liquidate.Investment firm Ameriprise Financial Inc. is suing the Reserve in federal court for allegedly telling some of its investors in advance that it was in danger of breaking the buck.A few weeks ago, Reserve admitted it gave inaccurate information to investors, saying the Primary fund actually broke the buck five hours earlier than initially reported.

It used to be that dividend-paying stocks got no respect, but after a year like 2008, they are back in their prime, BusinessWeek reports.

As their revenues decline, hedge funds will spend $882 million on technology in 2009, 40% less than this year, according to TABB Group. But they will not be so quick to reduce spending on front-office trading technology.

Peter Cieszko, who was selected to become president and chief executive officer of Evergreen Investments next month, has suddenly left, “to pursue other opportunities,” the firm said.

Fidelity Investments has released New Year’s retirement savings resolutions for people in three different age brackets—those 25-35 who are just getting started; those 36-54 who are in the midst, or should be in the midst, of saving; and those 55 and older, who are heading into retirement.

Standard & Poor's Friday downgraded 11 major U.S. and European financial institutions as they continue to face pressure from complex financial risks and the weakening economy.

Pioneer Investments has hired Bill C. Taylor, a 25-year veteran of the financial services industry, to serve as senior vice president and head of relationship management and strategic alliances in the U.S., reporting to Joseph D. Kringdon, head of U.S. retail distribution and president of Pioneer Funds Distributor.

Neuberger Berman’s board of directors has selected Tom D. Seip as non-executive chairman and Robert Conti as chief executive officer. The two men succeed Peter E. Sundman, who is resigning.

Class-action lawsuits are projected to reach 267 this year, a 37% increase from 2007 and the largest annual total since 2002, according to NERA Economic Consulting, which attributes the sharp rise to the credit crisis.

Relief for retired seniors may come too late if the Treasury Department doesn’t change the rules on mandatory withdrawals from 401(k) plans this year.