ICI Viewpoints Content

We occasionally encounter the puzzling misperception that individual retirement accounts (IRAs) are under-regulated—as in this recent Wall Street Journal story. The truth is, IRA investors benefit from a comprehensive regulatory framework, one that governs the IRA itself, IRA...

Proposals on margin requirements for uncleared swaps could create regulatory gaps that would work against the goal of ensuring fair and orderly swap markets, ICI said in recent comment letters. We recommended changes to the proposals, which come from both banking regulators and the...

As Paul Schott Stevens wrote on ICI Viewpoints earlier, a downgrade or default of U.S. Treasury securities would have grave implications for investors, markets, and economies around the world. This prospect raises a number of questions for funds and their shareholders, particularly...

The impasse between Congress and the Administration over increasing the U.S. Treasury’s borrowing limit and dealing with long-term budget deficits has raised many questions about the impact on American investors and investments, including mutual funds. At ICI, we share the deep...

A July 7 story in the Wall Street Journal makes the assertion that a recently-enacted 401(k) law “suppresses” retirement savings. The assertion rests on faulty data interpretation. Look at the proper numbers, and the truth becomes clear—the 401(k) system, thanks in part to reforms...

The ongoing attention to U.S. prime money market funds’ exposure to the debt crisis in Greece has brought three questions to the fore:

Groups representing businesses and government officials from across the country recently sent a message to Congress: policymakers should preserve the fundamental features of money market funds. The occasion was last week’s hearing, “Oversight of the Mutual Fund Industry: Ensuring...

The future of money market funds, how to define “systemic risk” to the financial system, and fiduciary standards for retirement plans were among the topics discussed at a hearing last week before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government Sponsored...

The Wall Street Journal posted another misleading editorial on money market funds. ICI President and CEO Paul Schott Stevens has submitted a letter to the editor in print and online to respond. Here is the text of his submission:

Recent events in Greece have drawn the media’s attention to indirect exposure that U.S. money market funds may have to European sovereign debt through their holdings of securities issued by European banks.