Even as a wave of investigations, indictments and record fines have washed over Wall Street, the mutual fund industry’s largely scandal free record has allowed it to avoid being singled out for stepped up scrutiny by regulators and legislators.
That could be about to change.
Reports requested by Congress on the mutual funds business are being completed by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the General Accounting Office and are about to be sent to Capitol Hill. The reports likely will lay out an agenda for increased oversight of the industry, including possible new mandates by Congress and rules changes by the SEC in areas such as fund sales practices and fee disclosures.