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Franklin Advisers wiped away some of the muck from the mutual fund trading scandal last week after agreeing to a $50 million settlement with regulators for its involvement in inappropriate trading of mutual fund shares.

Evergreen Funds confirmed that the SEC is investigating potential market timing at the firm and may bring an enforcement against it. The firm's parent company, Wachovia, first made the indication that a former employee as well as a portfolio manager may be charged in an SEC filing. An Evergreen spokeswoman indicated the firm intends to tell the SEC why enforcement action shouldn't be taken.

Proxy and shareholder communication firm Georgeson Shareholder Services has acquired shareholder mailing firm Alamo Direct Mail in a $15.5 million deal. Through the acquisition, Georgeson aims to boost its standing as a comprehensive service provider for the mutual fund industry by incorporating Alamo's Internet-based shareholder data-processing capabilities.

Global Investment Systems has broken with Extended Systems, its longstanding database provider, and is now using Oracle's database platform to power its latest shareholder accounting system, formally known as MFACT. Mary Pizzichino, U.S. director of sales and marketing at GIS, said Oracle's database offers the power and functionality required by larger institutional customers that is lacking in Extended Systems' database. "This new functionality allows us to attract and serve those users with the development of the Oracle functionality for MFACT." In addition, Oracle's database provides greater flexibility than Extended Systems for interfacing with a wide variety of server operating environments, like Microsoft's Windows applications, UNIX and Linux, Pizzichino said. GIS intends to continue Extended Technology in MFACT applications intended for smaller customers, according to a statement from the company.

Following the Securities and Exchange Commission's new requirements regarding mutual fund boards and independent trustees, the Mutual Fund Directors Forum, at the request of SEC Chairman William Donaldson, has weighed in with its own set of 32 best practices. Donaldson made the request in November, just 2-1/2 months after the fund scandal broke, at a point when the SEC was finalizing a flurry of regulatory proposals to enhance board members' independence to stem further abusive activities.

The Ontario Securities Commission is planning to bring market-timing charges against a number of mutual fund companies in Canada within the next few weeks, it was reported last week. But the charges are likely to be focused on market-timing abuses, rather than illegal late trading.

A new bill proposed in the House would exempt up to $20,000 in annuity income from federal taxation. The Retirement Security for Life Act of 2004 proposes that 50% of annuity income, up to $20,000 annually, be free of taxes, amounting to savings up to $5,000 for someone in the 25% tax bracket.

The wait for details on the SEC's new fund independence rules is over, for last Tuesday, the Commission released its final regulations.

The days of cloak-and-dagger proxy ballots are over.

Citigroup has reportedly received a Wells notice from the Securities and Exchange Commission related to dealings at its mutual fund arm, Smith Barney. Back in November, Citigroup admitted to regulators that an agreement to erect an internal transfer-agent wing was not disclosed to the company's own mutual funds. To correct the problem, it said it would pay $17 million back to the funds.

A former leader in retirement plan recordkeeping and custodial services, personal trust services, and more recently custody services for registered investment advisers, Security Trust Co. fell prey to the SEC's microscope when it was charged in November with late-trading mutual fund abuses. The firm was the first to have criminal charges against then-CEO Grant Seeger and was the first to temporarily close its doors.

It's crunch time for mutual funds. With the Oct. 5 deadline for mutual funds to designate a chief compliance officer just two months away, fund executives are scrambling to get their policies and procedures in place. The question is are they ready?

The noise surrounding hedge fund registration grew to a thunderous clap last week, as Congress heard testimony from several industry professionals and government officials on the merits of such a groundbreaking move.

Just when the mutual fund scandal seemed to be offering little in the way of new twists and turns, the plot thickens.

Many Congressmen are finding out that when it comes to fund reform, "you can't always get what you want," as Mick Jagger sings.

Things went from bad to worse for Invesco Funds, as federal securities regulators announced plans to increase the number of individuals facing civil fraud charges.

In a little over 11 weeks, firms are going to have to hire a chief compliance officer, a requirement that could prove to be a tall task for fund shops, particularly smaller ones.

The Securities and Exchange Commission reportedly may soon charge Fremont Investment Advisors and an ex-employee for late trading and market timing, the company said.

Investors have filed a class-action suit against Salomon Smith Barney for allegedly breaching its fiduciary duty between March 22, 1999 and March 22, 2004 by claiming its financial advisers were selling mutual funds objectively when, in fact, they were steering them into the firm's "inferior" proprietary family of more than 220 funds.

NEW YORK -- At a recent news conference held here, Calvert, a socially responsible investment management firm headquartered in Bethesda, Md., unveiled new corporate guidelines it created for the proper ethical and moral treatment of women workers. The news event was co-sponsored by Calvert and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), which provides financial and technical support for the enhancement of women's rights.