SEC Expands Interactive Data Voluntary Program to Include Mutual Fund Information

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2007-134

Washington, D.C., July 12, 2007 - The Securities and Exchange Commission has published final rule amendments to enable mutual funds to submit risk/return summary information from their prospectuses using interactive data under the Commission's voluntary program. The risk/return summary at the front of every mutual fund prospectus includes information about a fund's investment objectives and strategies, risks, costs, and historical performance. The Commission voted unanimously on June 20, 2007, to adopt the rule amendments.

The submission of tagged risk/return summary information will be supplemental and will not replace the required official versions of the information. Any mutual fund submitting tagged risk/return summary information will be required to include this information as an amendment to a filing on Form N-1A, the registration form for mutual funds. Volunteers can begin submitting tagged risk/return summary information on Aug. 20, 2007.

The rule amendments permit mutual funds to submit tagged risk/return summary information using a taxonomy developed by the Investment Company Institute. The taxonomy was recently recognized as an acknowledged eXtensible Business Reporting Language - or XBRL - taxonomy by XBRL International. The taxonomy is available on XBRL International's Web site at http://www.xbrl.org/Taxonomy/ici/ici-rr-summarydocument-20070516-acknowledged.htm.

Data tagging uses standard definitions (or data tags) to translate text-based information into data that is "interactive" and can be retrieved, searched, and analyzed through automated means. Tags are standardized through the development of taxonomies, which are essentially data dictionaries that describe individual items of information and mathematical and definitional relationships among the items. Tagged information can help investors, analysts, and other users to access precisely the information that they are interested in analyzing from detailed text-based disclosure documents.

The full text of the detailed release is posted on the SEC Web site at http://www.sec.gov/rules/final/2007/33-8823.pdf.

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Additional materials: Video of SEC Chairman Christopher Cox's statement on the rule amendments at the SEC's Open Meeting on June 20, 2007:
 Windows Media Player (19 MB)
 QuickTime (20 MB)

http://www.sec.gov/news/press/2007/2007-134.htm