International Comment Sought on Collective Investment Funds’ Voting Rights

Washington, DC, June 21, 2002 - The International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) has requested comment on a report that discusses how “collective investment funds” and their investment managers exercise voting rights in connection with portfolio securities. Comments on the report are due to IOSCO by September 30, 2002.

The report poses three questions about funds’ voting and disclosure responsibilities, and offers an IOSCO committee’s views on appropriate regulatory responses:

Is a fund required to exercise voting and other shareholder rights or otherwise become involved in the governance of corporations in its portfolio?
Who can make decisions about voting and other shareholder rights and how should these decisions be made?
Should a fund provide information to its investors about how its rights as shareholder will be exercised?