SEC Seeks Comment on Proposed Mutual Fund Governance Rule
In June 2006, the Securities and Exchange Commission promulgated a proposed rule on amendments relating to investment company governance provisions. The proposed rule would require that mutual fund boards be composed of at least 75% independent directors. Subsequent to the release of this proposal, the SEC Office of Economic Analysis published two reports that address the potential economic implications of the proposal. According to the Commission, it wishes "to develop a more comprehensive record and a more thorough understanding of the economic consequences of the provisions." Therefore, the SEC is has opened a 60-day public comment period requesting comment on proposed mutual fund governance rules in light of its two recently-published reports.
SEC Report: Literature Review on Independent Mutual Fund Chairs and Directors
SEC Report: Power Study as it relates to Independent Mutual Fund Chairs
June 2006 SEC Proposed Rule on Investment Company Governance
SEC to Review its Ruling on NYSE Data Fees
In a statement issued on December 27, 2006, the Securities and Exchange Commission agreed to review a rule it recently approved that would allow the NYSE Group to charge for market data. The SEC agreed to review the rule after receiving a 22-page letter of petition from NetCoalition, an internet company trade association, whose trustees include Bloomberg, Google, Yahoo and others. In a press release, NetCoalition stated that, "because of this change and similar threats of other market data product pricing increases, many of the most popular Internet financial web sites no longer offer consumers real time market data."
Click here to read NetCoalition petition
At the time the proposed rule was published for comment, SIA (now SIFMA), wrote in a letter to the SEC (June 2006) that the proposal would "further fragment market data and impose additional costs on access and transparency for SIA member firms and investors." In August 2006, the SIA follow-up with a second letter in response to the comment letter filed by NYSE Arca, which elaborated on its position as stated in its June 2006 letter.
SIA Comment Letter (June 30, 2006)