Week InReview | Rework fund fee disclosure, Investor Committee tells SEC | SEC commissioners have outline of fiduciary rule for review | GAO says bank regulators should disclose how they assess 'living wills' | In Case You Missed It + Binge Reading
(Apr 14) The Securities and Exchange Commission's Investor Advisory Committee recommends the agency revisit mutual fund disclosures and require they put investors' real-dollar costs on account statements in order to give them a better idea of the real costs they pay in those investments. "The best way to make investors more conscious of costs is through standardized disclosure of actual dollar amount costs on customer account statements," the committee said. Under SEC rules, funds must list a table of their fees as a percentage of net assets in a mutual fund prospectus, as well as dollar costs per $1,000 invested in an annual shareholder report.
(Apr 14) Securities and Exchange Commission staff have presented commissioners with an outline of a uniform fiduciary rule that will apply to broker-dealers as well as investment advisers, Chairman Mary Jo White said at a Senate subcommittee hearing. Although it isn't required to do so, the SEC has the authority under Section 913 of the Dodd-Frank Act to impose a fiduciary standard on broker-dealers who give "personalized investment advice about securities to a retail customer." The SEC has been studying the issue for years, but the Department of Labor recently finished its related rule under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. A lawsuit challenging the DOL rule is likely as many industry representatives and lawmakers say the SEC should take the lead on crafting a fiduciary standard.
(Apr 12) A Government Accountability Office report claims regulator secrecy in evaluating banks' living wills "could undermine public and market confidence," and that bank regulators should publicly disclose how they assess them. Citing weaknesses in regulators' work on bank resolution planning, the government watchdog said the regulators should disclose details of their review process and give banks more time. Banks are required to draft and submit "living wills" under the Dodd-Frank Act. The GAO says the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the Federal Reserve have made progress implementing Dodd-Frank's framework for resolution planning for large banks, but that declining to reveal their assessment frameworks for confidentiality reasons limits the potential for companies to better achieve Dodd-Frank's objective.
