Investment Company Institute President Matthew P. Fink today commented on a letter sent by Representatives Michael G. Oxley (R-OH), Chairman of the House Committee on Financial Services, and Richard Baker (R-LA), Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises, to Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Harvey Pitt and National Association of Securities Dealers Chairman Robert Glauber commending the SEC and NASD for their actions to ensure that brokerage firms offer “breakpoints” to qualified mutual fund investors and endorsing the NASD investigation into the matter.
“We join Chairman Oxley and Baker in supporting SEC and NASD actions to prevent alleged abusive sales practices which may have resulted in overcharging investors by failing to offer them `breakpoints’ that lower the cost of purchasing their mutual funds,” commented Fink. “The industry strongly supports tough regulation of sales practices involving mutual funds and will cooperate fully in the investigation on behalf of its 95 million shareholders.”