Compliance

Ameriprise Financial, which has sued Reserve Funds on charges that the fund company tipped off large institutional investors its Primary Fund had broken the buck, has asked a judge to release taped phone calls to customers on the day before the fund’s NAV fell below $1, Reuters reports.

Eighty-percent of board members at financial services firms believe they need better tools to evaluate investments, PricewaterhouseCoopers’ financial services practice found in a recent survey of financial services audit committee members. They believe that by being better equipped, they could reduce the chance of future industry instability.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has fined Banorte Securities International $1.1 million for improper sales of B shares of offshore mutual funds, as well as inadequate supervisory systems to monitor the sales.

WASHINGTON - Though the Federal Reserve Board's reputation is built on its management of monetary policy, Chairman Ben Bernanke said Wednesday that the role of banking supervision at the central bank needs to be revisited.

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. - As omnibus accounts continue to grow in size and scope, it remains crucial for investment managers to keep oversight high and costs low.

HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. - Mutual fund industry leaders admit that years of deregulation allowed the current economic crisis to unfold, and many are anticipating a backlash of new and excessive regulations to result.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has fined Banorte Securities International $1.1 million for improper sales of B shares of offshore mutual funds, as well as inadequate supervisory systems to monitor the sales.

The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority announced the second annual CCOutreach BD National Seminar will be held on March 10, 2009.

Nine former and current traders with Fidelity Investments have reached preliminary settlements with the Securities and Exchange Commission for allegedly receiving more than $1.6 million worth of lavish gifts from brokerages seeking business from Fidelity between 2002 and 2004.

As the mutual fund industry approaches the first anniversary of the compliance date for SEC Rule 22c-2, it's an ideal time for a retrospective on the services, systems and processes in place to comply with the data-sharing components of the rule.

NEW YORK - In the wake of the ongoing credit crisis and illiquid money market, much of it due to the failure of a single money market mutual fund, the Securities and Exchange Commission plans to overhaul Rule 2-a7. Separately, the Department of the Treasury is looking into creating a market stability regulator with omniscient powers across the "entire financial system."

NEW YORK - As credit freezes up and liquidity all but vanishes, there is an enormous temptation for financial institutions and investors to hold on to their cash and brace for the worst.

New Hampshire regulators have fined a now-defunct mortgage company, First Call Mortage, in which Peter Lynch of Fidelity fame had a 13% stake, The Wall Street Journal reports. As such, Lynch faces an $85,000 fine, and First Call, $767,500.

With just $6 billion in assets left, of what once totaled $83 billion, Reserve Management is liquidating its 18 remaining funds.

The U.S. Justice Department has subpoenaed several large firms and agencies as part of an investigation to determine whether Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. misled investors before its Sept. 15 bankruptcy filing, according to the Stamford Advocate.

Despite a stable economic outlook for the foreseeable future, many Canadians are concerned that their government isn’t doing enough to prepare itself for the kind of downturn the rest of the world is experiencing, writes the National Post.

The Federal Reserve announced Tuesday it will buy up to $1.3 trillion of the top-rated asset-backed and unsecured commercial paper in the markets—virtually a business loan bailout due to frozen money markets, the closest the government has come to making loans to businesses directly.

NEW YORK—In the wake of the ongoing credit crisis and illiquid money market, much of it due to the failure of a single money market mutual fund, the Securities and Exchange Commission plans to overhaul Rule 2a-7. Separately, the Department of the Treasury is looking into creating a market stability regulator with omniscient powers across the "entire financial system."

Investors in the now-defunct Primary Fund got their first indication of when they can expect redemptions last Monday, when Reserve Management announced it would return 32% of the fund's assets as of Sept. 15, or $20 billion, on Oct. 13.

WASHINGTON—The House reversed Monday's rejection of a bill to stabilize the financial markets approving the measure on Friday with a vote of 263 to 171.