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In a rare but not unprecedented occurrence, the shareholders of a small fund are being asked to renew the fund's investment advisory contract, so that the advisor can be paid for the first time in nearly a year.

Transamerica Life Insurance Company of Canada fired three employees and suspended 17 in a trading scandal involving one of the firm's offshore funds based in Luxembourg, said Barry Francis, a spokesperson for the company.

AIM Funds Management of Toronto became Canada's newest foreign-owned mutual fund giant on Aug. 1, with the completion of its takeover of Trimark Financial of Toronto. It hopes to make further market-share gains by offering one of the country's most diverse product lines, introducing new low-fee share classes and expanding its distribution channels.

Global Asset Management of Hamilton, Bermuda is planning to file with the SEC to introduce three new closed-end funds in October that will invest in hedge funds, said David Anderson, managing director of Global Asset Management.

In spite of the rush to merge or acquire another firm in the money management industry, two-thirds of acquired fund companies failed to exceed their pre-transaction asset growth rates following a sale, according to Cerulli Associates of Boston.

The Investment Company Institute of Washington D.C., filed a motion July 28 to dismiss a complaint against it alleging the industry association has violated federal securities laws by aligning too closely with fund advisers, according to the motion.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has speedily adopted a rule to permit fund companies to continue to convey sales and marketing materials electronically - particularly on websites - to prospective investors without first supplying them with a prospectus or asking for their permission to provide the prospectus in electronic form.

State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company of Bloomington, Minn. has filed with the SEC to offer ten mutual funds to the public.

The Orbitex Focus 30 Fund is hoping to file a countersuit against an individual who named the fund in an amended lawsuit filed earlier this year. A motion was filed July 13 in the 13th Circuit Court in Hillsborough County, Fla., seeking the court's approval to file the countersuit.

The U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals of New York ruled July 10 that broker-dealers do not have to disclose trailing payments received from fund firms. The court ruled that such fees are already disclosed in funds' prospectuses and statements of additional information.

Templeton Management Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Franklin Resources of San Mateo, Calif., has agreed to acquire Bissett & Associates Investment Management Ltd. of Calgary for $95 million. Founded by David Bissett in 1982, Bissett provides investment advisory services throughout Canada to a broad base of clients, including pension plans and foundations and high-net-worth and other individual investors through Bissett's 12 mutual funds. The acquisition is expected to close in October.

Two of the first exchange-traded funds based on pan-European indices were launched last week by Barclays Global Investors of San Francisco, said Kerry Steele, a company spokesperson.

Fidelity Investments of Boston plans to add an open-end floating-rate bank loan fund to its Fidelity Advisor Series II family of funds, according to an SEC filing.

Water Island Capital of New York has filed a registration statement with the SEC to offer the Arbitrage Funds. The funds will invest at least 65 percent of their assets in companies involved in mergers or acquisitions.

Franklin Resources of San Mateo, Calif., adviser to the Franklin Templeton Funds and Mutual Series Funds, is planning to buy at least part of the asset management unit of Nedcor Investment Bank Holdings Limited, a South African banking group based in Johannesburg, South Africa, according to a source close to the negotiations. A Franklin Templeton spokesperson declined to comment.

ING Groep of Amsterdam has signed a definitive agreement to buy Aetna Financial and Aetna International of Hartford for $7.7 billion - $5 billion in cash plus the assumption of $2.7 billion of Aetna's total $5 billion of debt.

In an effort to establish a greater level of board independence, the trustees of the Putnam Funds of Boston last week passed over George Putnam III for the chairmanship and instead named John A. Hill chairman, said Laura McNamara, a company spokesperson.

Washington - Proposed Securities and Exchange Commission rules prohibiting independent auditors from providing other types of consulting services to their audit clients should be adopted, two mutual fund industry executives told the SEC last week.

The National Association of Securities Dealers Regulation posted guidance on its website July 21 about mutual fund and annuity advertising and suitability screening for multi-class mutual funds.

The New York Stock Exchange will begin listing exchange-traded funds in the fall, said Richard Grasso, CEO of the New York Stock Exchange. The majority of exchange-traded funds are currently listed on the American Stock Exchange.