Both the SEC and the President’s Working Group on Financial Markets (the Plunge Protection Team) are considering whether Money Market Funds should be forced away from their stable $1.00 value method of maintaining money market share prices. A move by regulators forcing money market funds away from the maintenance of the $1.00 price would cause huge hiccups in the industry and perhaps result in the end of the industry. At a minimum, it would cause huge withdrawals...
At Crane’s Money Fund Symposium, Paul Schott Stevens, President and CEO of the Investment Company Institute spoke about the problems that a move away from $1.00 pricing would mean:
..money market funds remain firmly opposed to proposals that would force them to abandon their stable per-share value. And we are not alone in that stance. America’s businesses, along with state and local governments, are rallying in opposition to any suggestion that regulators would force money market funds off their stable $1.00 net asset value.
The idea of floating these funds’ value is likely to be discussed in the President’s Working Group report, whenever it may be issued. And it’s still in the air at the SEC, which is contemplating a “round two” rulemaking to address any lingering issues in money market funds and Rule 2a-7...
In the last several weeks, groups representing state and local governments have come out squarely in opposition to forcing money market funds to float. The National Association of State Treasurers; the Government Finance Officers Association; and the National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers, and Treasurers – all have voiced their support for the ability of funds to operate with a stable NAV...
More than 40 companies – many of them household names – have signed on to this letter or others urging the President’s Working Group to drop the idea of floating NAVs.
These organizations and others have emphasized that it is vital to preserve the essential, defining characteristic of money market funds – because they all recognize the highly important role that these funds play in our markets and our economy...
A retail investor expects that $1 put into a money market fund will count for $1 when writing a check or making a withdrawal. If money market funds cannot provide that, retail investors will have no alternative but to use bank accounts – by no means an ideal substitute.
31 July 2010
Are money market mutual funds in danger?
I know nothing re the reliability or possible biases of the source - just ran across this article while browsing the financial links:
Considering that this post was written a year ago, we can now safely say (for the time being anyway) that the money market funds market is NOT, in fact, in danger. It's been benefiting from rising rates, despite QE2 and other government efforts to curb the interest spikes we're seeing. Though the Japan and Middle East phenomena might push down expectations for growth.
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