12(b)-1 round table to have 22 panelists

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s daylong round-table on 12(b)-1 fees scheduled for tomorrow will have 22 panelists.

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s daylong round-table on 12(b)-1 fees scheduled for tomorrow will have 22 panelists.
They include Martin Byrne, a managing director of Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. of New York; John Hill, independent chairman of Boston-based Putnam Investments’ fund unit; Tom Selman, executive vice president of NASD of Washington; Michael Sharp, general counsel of the global wealth management business of Citigroup Inc. of New York; and Robert Uek, independent trustee of Boston-based MFS Investment Management’s fund unit.
Four panels will discuss whe-
ther to abolish or change the $11 billion-a-year 12(b)-1 fee system.

Fortress shares hit by proposed legislation
Shares of Fortress Investment Group LLC fell 6.5% to close at $23.47 on Friday due to concerns that proposed legislation could increase the New York-based private-equity and hedge fund firm’s taxes.
Legislation was introduced Thursday by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., and committee ranking minority member Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, that would tax as corporations all publicly traded partnerships that directly or indirectly derived income from investment adviser or asset management services.
Earlier on Friday, Fortress’ shares dropped to $23.04, marking their lowest level since their debut Feb. 9.

Don’t count out banks, Bernanke says
Borrowers are turning to other financial services providers to get capital, but don’t expect banks to die out anytime soon, Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke said Friday.
“Banks do continue to play a central role in credit markets,” he said at a monetary policy conference in Atlanta. “Because of the burgeoning market for loan sales, banks originate considerably more loans than they keep on their books.”

Energy prices bump up May CPI
Gas prices raised consumer prices overall last month, but core inflation remained moderate, according to a report released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in Washington.
Last month, the consumer price index rose 0.7%, following April’s 0.4% increase. Energy prices increased by 5.4% last month.

Nymex said to be considering sale
The New York Mercantile Exchange is considering selling itself to NYSE Euronext, Deutsche Boerse AG of Frankfurt, Germany, or Chicago Mercantile Exchange Holdings Inc., Bloomberg reported.

Clarification
An article in the June 11 issue, “IRS ices tactic used by holders of fee accounts,” said that clients can take a distribution from an individual retirement account to pay for investment fees for a taxable account.
Clients can do that but still will be taxed for the distribution. The client’s investment fees can all be deducted from the IRA.