Podcast: Federal Court Rejects Mutual Fund Fee Claims and Recognizes Market Realities
In the News. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed modifying the disclosure framework for mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (funds), which would create a new layered disclosure regime that attempts to...more
Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Chris Lazarini outlined the factors courts must consider in determining whether the fees an adviser charges a mutual fund are excessive and in violation of the Investment Company Act. All the...more
Key Takeaways - Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reaffirms that comparison of advisory fees to subadvisory fees is “inapt” under Jones v. Harris Assocs., relying on undisputed evidence of differences in services and risks. ...more
In this issue, we summarize regulatory, litigation and industry developments from October 2019 to early January 2020 impacting the investment management sector, including SEC action on use of derivatives by registered...more
On September 27, 2019, following a two-week bench trial, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed an action brought by mutual fund shareholders under Section 36(b) of the Investment Company Act...more
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a comprehensive post-trial ruling on September 30, 2019 in Chill v. Calamos Advisors LLC, holding that Plaintiffs failed to meet their burden to show that...more
In this issue, we summarize regulatory, litigation and industry developments from May to September 2019 impacting the investment management sector, including SEC action on standards of conduct for broker-dealers and...more
Litigation and Enforcement Actions and Initiatives – SECTION 36(b) LITIGATION – Court Finds for Defendant Investment Adviser in Section 36(b) - Excessive-Fee Case – On August 5, 2019, the U.S. District Court for the...more
In an opinion unsealed on July 3, 2019, Judge Laura Taylor Swain of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York granted summary judgment to a mutual fund adviser and dismissed an excessive fee claim brought...more
In a newly unsealed decision, the federal district court in Manhattan granted summary judgment in favor of a mutual fund’s investment adviser in a lawsuit filed pursuant to Section 36(b) of the Investment Company Act of 1940....more
In a strong opinion, a federal court in the Southern District of New York recently dismissed a suit alleging that the defendant charged “excessive” fees to a mutual fund....more
On March 18, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the dismissal prior to discovery of a complaint filed under Section 36(b) of the Investment Company Act of 1940. The Second Circuit’s decision is...more
Following an eight-day bench trial, Judge Freda L. Wolfson of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey ruled in favor of certain subsidiaries of BlackRock, Inc. on $1.55 billion in claims brought under Section...more
New Rules, Proposed Rules, Guidance and Alerts – NEW RULES – SEC Adopts New Rules Permitting Covered Investment Fund Research Reports – On November 30, 2018, the SEC adopted Rule 139b under the Securities Act of...more
In a non-precedential opinion, the Third Circuit has affirmed a district court’s ruling in favor of AXA Equitable Fund Management Group (“FMG”) in a case in which the plaintiffs had claimed that FMG charged excessive fees for...more
On March 13, 2018, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois entered summary judgment for Harbor Capital Advisors, Inc. (“Harbor”) in consolidated actions brought under Section 36(b) of the...more
On February 14, 2018, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan issued a decision dismissing a complaint brought under Section 36(b) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, that...more
New Rules, Proposed Rules, Guidance and Alerts – SEC STAFF GUIDANCE AND ALERTS - SEC Staff Issues Guidance on Cryptocurrency-related Holdings - On January 18, 2018, the staff of the SEC’s Division of Investment...more
Following a four-day bench trial, New Jersey District Judge Renee Bumb granted judgment to defendant Hartford mutual fund advisers on "excessive fee" claims brought by fund shareholders under Section 36(b) of the Investment...more
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois denied a motion to compel production of attorney-client privileged documents on April 25, 2017, in connection with the Section 36(b) lawsuit Chill v. Calamos...more
The Chairman of the Financial Services Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, Jeb Hensarling (R-TX), on April 19, 2017 released an updated discussion draft of the Financial CHOICE1 Act (Bill), and the Committee held...more
In Kenny v. Pacific Inv. Mgm’t Co. LLC (W.D. Wash.), a federal judge recently ruled that a mutual fund’s independent trustees must produce certain documents that the trustees had redacted or withheld based on attorney-client...more
Following a four-day bench trial, Judge Renee Marie Bumb of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey ruled in favor of an adviser on claims brought under Section 36(b) of the Investment Company Act by investors...more
The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey recently issued its post-trial ruling in Kasilag et al. v. Hartford Investment Financial Services, LLC et al. The Hartford ruling is the second post-trial Section 36(b)...more
REGULATION - DOL Issues Additional Guidance on Fiduciary Rule - On January 13, 2017, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued a second set of guidance on its new fiduciary rules, which are scheduled to become...more