Reuters – Securities regulators are locking horns with some of the U.S.’s most powerful mutual funds and Wall Street players over plans to scrap requirements that money market funds hold investment-grade securities.
For years, the Securities and Exchange Commission allowed fund firms to buy only highly rated municipal bonds for money market funds but now the SEC is considering changing that rule in an effort to curb investors’ reliance on credit ratings.
Ironically, players like The Vanguard Group, one of the biggest in the $12.3 trillion (7 trillion pounds) mutual fund industry, want less freedom instead of more, arguing the SEC-mandated ratings offer would-be investors a sense of comfort.
