Canadian securities regulators have begun on-site reviews of money market funds, fearing their exposure to devalued securities.

Recent moves by the U.S. government to prop up ailing money market funds seems to be helping stem the recent massive run on the funds, another fund implosion like the Reserve's Primary Fund can't be ruled out; managers may be holding investments that turn out to be worthless.

The Department of the Treasury opened its money market mutual fund guarantee program Monday and provided details on how the $50 billion program, designed to stem a run on the $3.4 trillion money market fund industry, will work.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has created a nearly $32 million fair fund distribution to help current and former customers of Ameriprise Financial Services who were harmed by the company’s failure to disclose revenue sharing payments.

Responding to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s temporary ban on short selling in hopes of helping to stabilize the markets, Vanguard and Bank of America’s Columbia Funds have stopped lending securities to such traders, The Boston Globe reports.

One of the biggest arguments against the $700 billion bailout of Wall Street’s bad debt is that by having the government clean up investment houses’ balance sheets, the same firms that caused the problem might make outsized profits in helping the government assess the debt, the New York Times reports.

The Securities and Exchange Commission issued an enforcement action Tuesday against AmSouth Bank and AmSouth Asset Management for defrauding the AmSouth mutual funds by using a portion of administrative fees that shareholders paid for marketing and other unrelated expenses that should have been paid out of the investment advisor’s coffers. Those expenses included the salary, bonus, benefits and country club membership of the president of the AmSouth Funds.

Minnesota U.S. District Court Judge Paul Magnuson has decided to expedite Ameriprise Financial’s lawsuit against Reserve Funds’ Primary Fund. The court will fast-track the discovery of documents and other supporting information.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is planning its next CCOutreach seminar for Nov. 13 at its Washington headquarters.

The Federal Reserve has moved to ease bank ownership thresholds, allowing private equity firms to acquire larger-sized stakes in banking companies along with board representation.

Expect a pop in equity valuations, increased liquidity and lower trading costs as U.S. and foreign corporations list stocks using International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). That's according to a working paper published by the University Of Chicago Graduate School Of Business.

CHICAGO - In the coming weeks and months, financial officials and members of Congress will be scrambling to revisit a spate of sunsetting tax and accounting laws before the new presidential administration and Congress take over next year.

Global insurance giant AIG sold more than $10.8 billion worth of annuities in the second quarter of 2008—more than any other insurer—and Lehman Brothers’ Neuberger Berman mutual funds managed more than $250 billion.

Bowing into pressure from banks and thrifts, the Department of the Treasury clarified its promise to guarantee money market mutual funds late Sunday. The government will insure money market mutual funds’ $1 net asset value for a year for investments in funds as of close of business last Friday.

The U.S. Treasury Department announced early Friday it has set aside $50 billion from The Exchange Stabilization Fund to insure that no fund in the $3.4 trillion money market fund industry “breaks the buck” for the next year.

Shareholders filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Manhattan Thursday against Reserve Funds’ Primary Fund for halting redemption of holdings of $10,000 or more on Tuesday due to the fund falling to 97 cents on the dollar.

Charging that Lord Abbett misleadingly marketed Class A shares on 21 of its funds as offering superior performance than lower-cost Class B and Class C shares, which actually delivered identical performance, investors sued the company Thursday. The investors took issue with paying a 5.75% sales charge on the Class A shares.

Justin F. Ficken, a former broker with Prudential Securities, pled guilty before U.S. District Judge Patti B. Saris on Monday to deceptively market timing mutual funds for seven hedge funds between January 2001 and September 2003, earning himself and two other brokers a combined $6 million in commissions.

Identity theft, data loss and other privacy violations are among the leading threats faced by financial institutions. Depending on their nature, they can inflict reputational and brand damage, cause revenue losses and prompt civil liability suits by customers. What's more, regulators are taking an increasingly hard line in these matters. Two new regulatory measures to safeguard investor privacy have far-reaching implications for investment companies, and executives need to take steps to comply.

The Securities and Exchange Commission plans to propose as early as the end of the month rules that would enhance municipal disclosure, SEC Chairman Christopher Cox said in an interview.