D.C. Circuit Sends Mutual Fund Rules Back to SEC

[FaGal]

D.C. Circuit Sends Mutual Fund Rules Back to SEC
Lily Henning
Legal Times
06-22-2005


A federal appeals court in Washington handed a significant win to the nation's largest business lobby Tuesday in a decision that affects who sits on mutual fund boards and how independent they should be from the funds' managers.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit directed the Securities and Exchange Commission to reconsider rules passed in June 2004 requiring the chairman and 75 percent of most mutual fund boards to be independent of fund managers.

In a unanimous decision, the three-judge panel found that the SEC violated rule-making procedures by failing to take into account how much the reforms would cost the industry. The court also criticized the agency for improperly rejecting an alternative proposal from two of its commissioners. The court, however, took no position on whether the rules governing independence were proper.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce sued the SEC in September 2004, claiming that Congress did not give the commission the authority to mandate mutual fund board composition and that the rules were arbitrary and capricious.

The 19-page opinion was authored by Chief Judge Douglas Ginsburg, a Republican appointee, and joined by Judges Judith Rogers and David Tatel, both appointed by Democrats. The appellate panel heard oral arguments on April 15. Eugene Scalia of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher represented the chamber; SEC General Counsel Giovanni Prezioso argued for the government.

The SEC rules, scheduled to go into effect in January 2006, were drafted in response to discoveries of misconduct in the more than $7 trillion mutual fund industry, including late trading and market timing that benefited fund companies and brokerages but could have hurt shareholders.

While the SEC could try to replace the rejected rule with something similar, industry lawyers say that is unlikely, given a June 30 leadership change at the commission.

Earlier this month, President George W. Bush nominated Rep. Christopher Cox, R-Calif., to replace outgoing Chairman William Donaldson. Cox, who as a congressman authored legislation that sought to curb shareholder lawsuits, is widely expected to be more pro-business than his predecessor.

Mutual fund companies that opposed the rules, such as Fidelity Investments and Vanguard Group, could see a more favorable result the second time around, says Stephen Bokat, senior vice president and general counsel of the Chamber of Commerce.

"There are already two dissenters," says Bokat, referring to two commissioners who voted against the rules in 2004. "If [Cox's] view is different from the chairman's [Donaldson], this could certainly result in a very different outcome."

SEC spokesman John Nester says that the commission is reviewing "how best to respond to the concerns identified by the court regarding the analysis of costs and the consideration of alternatives."

[FaGal]

June 23, 2005
S.E.C. to Revisit Fund Rule
By DOW JONES/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON, June 22 (Dow Jones/AP) - The Securities and Exchange Commission will meet next Wednesday to reconsider a rule requiring mutual funds to have an independent chairman, the commssion said Wednesday.

A federal appellate court ordered the S.E.C. on Tuesday to reconsider the rule, saying the agency had failed to estimate its costs or consider alternatives, like requiring funds to disclose if they have an independent chairman.

The three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit concluded that the S.E.C. had the authority to adopt the rule, which had been challenged by the Chamber of Commerce. The rule requires 75 percent of fund directors, including the chairman, to be independent of the fund company management.