Fund Democracy Wants SEC to Monitor Monthly Money Fund Holdings.
Fund Democracy, a self-
described "
mutual fund shareholders advocate" run by
Mercer Bullard, has teamed with an odd consortium of parties to
petition the SEC to "
adopt a rule requiring that money market funds make nonpublic monthly electronic filings of their portfolios to enable the Commission to monitor more closely the
funds' risk of loss of principal," we learned from
Investment News. The January 16th letter argues that bank regulators would favor banks over money funds, and that "
a fund manager will one day decline to bail out its money fund". The letter urges the SEC to monitor "
both the reasonableness of portfolio pricing and the risk of loss of principal". Alas, the author'
s seem
unaware of the prevalence of existing monthly holdings posted on fund company websites, and seem
unfamiliar with money market securities, which don'
t "
trade" on exchanges like stocks and bonds.
Crane Data does not believe the requested disclosure is necessary or wise.. While urging more reporting, Fund Democracy says, "
The regulation of money market funds is arguably the single greatest success story in the history of financial services regulation. Rule 2a-
7 has become a
model for private funds and foreign governments who offer interests in cash management vehicles."