Bloomberg on Retail MMF Exemption
Bloomberg clarified yesterday's WSJ article with its "SEC Said to Weigh Industry's Retail Exemption in Money-Fund Rule." It says, "Securities regulators are considering a change in how they exempt retail investors from proposed restrictions on money-market mutual funds after fund companies complained the original plan was too onerous, according to three people familiar with the matter. The new plan would allow retail funds that only have individuals as shareholders to keep their stable $1 share price, according to the people, who asked to not be named because the plan isn’t public.... About 10 percent to 20 percent of the $2.7 trillion industry lies in a gray area between retail and institutional users, according to Peter Crane, president of research firm Crane Data LLC in Westborough, Massachusetts. It's unclear how the industry's recommended definition of retail funds would affect the number of funds subject to a floating-share price. If adopted, regulators would have to find a way to get small businesses that sometimes use retail funds to switch to other products, or provide them with an exemption to continue using them." Bloomberg quotes Robert E. Plaze, a partner at Strook & Strook & Lavan LLP, "I don't think this approach would expand the retail exemption beyond what the SEC proposed. I think it's being pushed by the industry principally for operational simplicity."
