The Commission released a "Statement of SEC Chairman Mary L. Schapiro on Money Market Fund Reform" last night after press reports came out saying the agency wouldn't propose new money fund regulations. It says, "Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro today made the following statement: Three Commissioners, constituting a majority of the Commission, have informed me that they will not support a staff proposal to reform the structure of money market funds. The proposed structural reforms were intended to reduce their susceptibility to runs, protect retail investors and lessen the need for future taxpayer bailouts. I -- together with many other regulators and commentators from both political parties and various political philosophies -- consider the structural reform of money markets one of the pieces of unfinished business from the financial crisis. While as Commissioners, we each have our own views about the need to bolster money market funds, a proposal would have given the public the chance to weigh in with their views as well. However, because three Commissioners have now stated that they will not support the proposal and that it therefore cannot be published for public comment, there is no longer a need to formally call the matter to a vote at a public Commission meeting. Some Commissioners have instead suggested a concept release. We have been engaging for two and a half years on structural reform of money market funds. A concept release at this point does not advance the discussion. The public needs concrete proposals to react to. The declaration by the three Commissioners that they will not vote to propose reform now provides the needed clarity for other policymakers as they consider ways to address the systemic risks posed by money market funds. I urge them to act with the same determination that the staff of the SEC has displayed over the past two years."
