Barclays Global Investors is blazing the trail for the exchange-traded fund (ETF) business as federal regulators have lifted key investment restrictions on its iShares product.

Investors shut out of the record settlement between regulators and 10 Wall Street firms accused of gross misconduct during the fast and furious days of the bull run, can further pursue civil action against the firms, the Securities and Exchange Commission said.

Mutual funds are facing their greatest challenges in their existence. Can they remain the dominant investment of choice?

What better pairing than two individuals who like to stir things up? Outspoken industry pundit Roy Weitz, publisher of FundAlarm.com, recently weighed in on some of the pressures facing the mutual fund industry with Jack Bogle, founder and former chairman of Vanguard and a notoriously outspoken defender of the investor.

Baron Capital of New York, the broker/dealer affiliate of mutual fund asset management firm BAMCO and the distributor of shares of four Baron Funds, has been sanctioned by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Also, Ronald Baron, 59, BAMCO's highly visible founder, chairman and chief executive, and two of the firm's traders were punished for their ill deeds.

Mutual fund complexes are beginning to realize that implementing anti-money laundering programs requires more than just flag-waving. In fact, the rules are complicated, expensive and, because they are being set in stages, confusing.

Hedge funds are the latest investment vehicle to be put through the ringer as the Securities and Exchange Commission mulls more stringent regulation.

PALM DESERT, Calif. - The mutual fund industry is entering a "new era of accountability" and should prepare to take a leadership role in restoring investor confidence.

An amended lawsuit just filed against a UBS Paine Webber/Mark Advisors hedge fund could bring to light some of the biggest challenges faced by the growing number of firms sponsoring SEC-registered hedge funds. The suit challenges earnings and investment representations, and raises questions about how these funds are explained to brokers and marketed to investors.

House Financial Services Capital Markets Subcommittee Chairman Richard H. Baker (R-LA) dashed off a letter to Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman William Donaldson last Wednesday asking the SEC to look into mutual funds fees. Fee tables aside, Baker asserted investors are "ignorant" of how much they are paying.

No, a "high-tech compliance system" is not an oxymoron. In fact, just about every mutual fund company is grappling with ways to leverage technology to increase the speed and efficiencies of mundane but vital compliance tasks, while keeping their eyes trained on the bottom line and trying to rein in costs.

Nearly one in three sales to mutual funds with front-end sales charges don't get the discount they deserve. That's according to a report jointly issued last week by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the National Association of Securities Dealers and the New York Stock Exchange.

WASHINGTON - Congress will be going over mutual fund fee practices with a fine-tooth comb to ensure investors are getting a fair shake.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz - The American Society of Pension Actuaries (ASPA) Executive Director Brian H. Graff warned the plan sponsor and retirement-services industries to jointly get their acts together and provide investors with better investment tools, or they will have Congress on their collective backs.

The clock is ticking for the Investment Company Institute (ICI), the fund industry's largest and most influential trade group, as 11th-hour lobbying efforts to stave off proxy-voting disclosure may not cut the mustard.

The B in B shares stands for "Bogus."

It takes money to make money, the adage goes, and this is no less true for the mutual fund industry. The sale of B shares requires up-front capital to compensate brokers, and at the same time generates an asset-based income stream that varies according to the fortunes of the market. To ease both of these pressures, fund companies have securitized 12b-1 fees, basically selling off that future income for a set period of time, in exchange for an up-front lump sum.

Sarbanes-Oxley? It sounds more like a debilitating disease than a remedy for corporate malfeasance.

By John C. Wilcox, Vice Chairman, Georgeson Shareholder Communications Inc.

Shareholder resolutions reached a record number this year - 862, up from 802 last year - according to a proxy season overview report by prominent activist proponents.