Compliance

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed the dismissal of Jeremy Braden v. Wal-Mart Stores by the District Court for the Western District of Missouri.

Thirty-eight percent of senior mangers around the world believe the economic crisis will end by the second quarter of next year, Atradius found in a survey of 3,500 executives in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.

Mutual funds and large institutional investors are being spared from a new Securities and Exchange Commission proposal to reign in the growing use of dark pools to hide trading information, since only trades smaller than $200,000 would be exposed.

At an educational seminar for the asset management industry that law firm Walkers is hosting on Dec. 2 in New York, the focus will be on the key issues facing the industry, restoring investor confidence being the most important one.

OppenheimerFunds decided to settle a lawsuit filed by the state of Oregon over its 529 plan for $20 million, payable to 45,000 investors in the plan early next year.

Three days after saying it would delay the effective date to permit 401(k) plan administrators to offer investment advice, the Department of Labor decided to scrap the rule altogether. The third extension for the effective date would have been May 17, 2010.

In an unusual move for a large corporation regarding lawsuits claiming excessive 401(k) fees, construction equipment manufacturer Caterpillar decided to repay $16.5 million to 80,000 former and current plan participants. The company also agreed to replace retail mutual funds in the plan with lower-cost institutional funds and hire an independent consultant to review the plan for the next two years.

PALM BEACH, Fla. - Almost a year after new rules governing 403(b) retirement plans for educational and non-profit workers were supposed to take effect, plan sponsors, vendors and third-party administrators are still struggling to comprehend the myriad of changes.

PALM BEACH, Fla. - Most 401(k) and other defined contribution plan administrators and sponsors like the automatic enrollment feature in the retirement savings plans they manage because it gets more people saving earlier, but the involuntary nature of these plans does not diminish the burdens they place on administrators to run them.

Financial services firms are urging Congress to adopt retirement savings reforms in the next few years and are readying products that could profit from them.

Putnam Chief Executive Officer Robert Reynolds is once again sounding the call for a new approach to 401(k) investing, inclusive of annuities and other retirement income products. This time, he is asking Washington to create a national insurance charter that will ensure consistent regulation for assured income products.

Last week's Supreme Court case has once again brought mutual fund fees to the national spotlight, but a decision by the court might not come for several months, if it comes at all. And judging from the justices' comments, they appear reluctant to get involved in the day-to-day workings of fund companies and more inclined to trust the judgment of fund boards, the purview of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the workings of the free market.

NEW YORK - A little-known provision in international financial reporting standards (IFRS) could require mutual funds to consolidate and report the financials of the companies they invest in, if they own a controlling interest across all of their individual funds.

The House Financial Services Committee passed a bill Wednesday that would allow states to oversee hedge funds and other investment advisors with $100 million or less in assets under management, leaving larger investment managers up to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Noting the urgency and immensity of their task, global financial leaders are frantically making small and large changes to U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and international financial accounting standards (IFRS) to make them more similar, and the Securities and Exchange Commission has recently made a single set of standards a high priority.

Following up on President Obama's mandate for change, regulators at the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission recently crafted a report that details their plans to harmonize the regulation of futures and securities.

The Internal Revenue Service has decided to keep contribution limits for 401(k)s, IRAs and other retirement accounts unchanged in 2010, rather than lowering them, as some had feared due to negative inflation. The Labor Department reported Thursday that the consumer price index has fallen 1.3% over the past 12 months.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has tapped Adam Storch to be the managing executive of the newly created Division of Enforcement.

While it’s good news for investors that a majority of mutual fund boards have adopted the best practices advocated by the Investment Company Institute and the Independent Directors Council, some critics believe those suggested practices should be mandatory.

BOSTON - As tax experts at mutual fund companies hurry to prepare their fund accounting systems before newly mandated changes to federal cost-basis reporting rules take effect, they are finding they could use a little help and guidance from the government.