本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛Congress attacks fund governance
By Matt Andrejczak, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 8:15 PM ET Nov. 3, 2003
WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- Congress launched an attack on mutual fund boards Monday, questioning conflicts of interest they charge are benefiting fund managers at the expense of ordinary investors.
Sen. Peter Fitzgerald, the Illinois Republican who chaired a Senate panel hearing that examined industry-wide trading abuses, called for major reforms in light of the unfolding scandals that are ensnaring top fund companies.
"Whether or not it's ready, the industry needs to be reformed," Fitzgerald said. "The mutual fund industry is now the world's largest skimming operation."
Rep. Richard Baker, the Louisiana Republican who chairs the House Subcommittee on Capital Markets, said he intends to strengthen his legislation aimed at improving fund governance.
On Monday, the Senate Subcommittee on Financial Management opened weeklong hearings into fund-industry abuses to consider legislative and regulatory measures. The House Subcommittee on Capital Markets is holding hearings Tuesday and Thursday.
Sen. Daniel Akaka, Democrat from Hawaii, is writing legislation to tighten fund governance in the first response from the Senate to the scandal.
He said recent allegations from federal and state regulators "make it clear that the boards of mutual fund companies are not providing sufficient oversight."
Among other measures, Akaka's legislation would require that fund boards be 75 percent independent, including the chairman. Brokers also would be forced to disclose their compensation for steering customers into a particular fund.
Earlier this year, the House Financial Services Committee passed Baker's bill but stripped his proposal to make fund chairman independent.
Baker said he plans to reintroduce the amendment. He also wants to ban portfolio managers from market-timing their own funds and from managing both a mutual fund and hedge fund.
"We made a good start, but we don't have it all right," Baker said.
Sen. Collins, the Maine Republican who chairs the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, said the SEC should limit the number of boards fund directors can serve.
"This is an area the SEC should take a hard look," she said.
Paul Roye, the SEC's director of investment management, told the Senate panel the agency agrees there should be a limit. "Our problem is prescribing what that limit is," he said.
Congress is not expected to enact fund legislation this year with only a few weeks left on the legislative calendar, but it may gain steam in the coming months ahead of next year's congressional elections. About 95 million Americans invest in mutual funds.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net
By Matt Andrejczak, CBS.MarketWatch.com
Last Update: 8:15 PM ET Nov. 3, 2003
WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- Congress launched an attack on mutual fund boards Monday, questioning conflicts of interest they charge are benefiting fund managers at the expense of ordinary investors.
Sen. Peter Fitzgerald, the Illinois Republican who chaired a Senate panel hearing that examined industry-wide trading abuses, called for major reforms in light of the unfolding scandals that are ensnaring top fund companies.
"Whether or not it's ready, the industry needs to be reformed," Fitzgerald said. "The mutual fund industry is now the world's largest skimming operation."
Rep. Richard Baker, the Louisiana Republican who chairs the House Subcommittee on Capital Markets, said he intends to strengthen his legislation aimed at improving fund governance.
On Monday, the Senate Subcommittee on Financial Management opened weeklong hearings into fund-industry abuses to consider legislative and regulatory measures. The House Subcommittee on Capital Markets is holding hearings Tuesday and Thursday.
Sen. Daniel Akaka, Democrat from Hawaii, is writing legislation to tighten fund governance in the first response from the Senate to the scandal.
He said recent allegations from federal and state regulators "make it clear that the boards of mutual fund companies are not providing sufficient oversight."
Among other measures, Akaka's legislation would require that fund boards be 75 percent independent, including the chairman. Brokers also would be forced to disclose their compensation for steering customers into a particular fund.
Earlier this year, the House Financial Services Committee passed Baker's bill but stripped his proposal to make fund chairman independent.
Baker said he plans to reintroduce the amendment. He also wants to ban portfolio managers from market-timing their own funds and from managing both a mutual fund and hedge fund.
"We made a good start, but we don't have it all right," Baker said.
Sen. Collins, the Maine Republican who chairs the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, said the SEC should limit the number of boards fund directors can serve.
"This is an area the SEC should take a hard look," she said.
Paul Roye, the SEC's director of investment management, told the Senate panel the agency agrees there should be a limit. "Our problem is prescribing what that limit is," he said.
Congress is not expected to enact fund legislation this year with only a few weeks left on the legislative calendar, but it may gain steam in the coming months ahead of next year's congressional elections. About 95 million Americans invest in mutual funds.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net