Public Comments

Overview

The Commission is proposing amendments to the rule under the Investment Company Act of 1940 that prohibits investment company personnel from engaging in fraudulent acts in connection with their personal transactions in securities held or to be acquired by the investment company, and requires an investment company and its investment adviser and principal underwriter to adopt codes of ethics reasonably designed to prevent such acts. The amendments would increase the oversight role of an investment company's board of directors with respect to the codes of ethics applicable to the investment company, improve the manner in which investment company personnel report their personal securities transactions to their employers, and clarify certain provisions of the rule (including the scope of its anti-fraud provision). Related proposed amendments would require an investment company to provide information about its policies concerning personal investment activities in its prospectus. The Commission also is proposing conforming changes to the rule under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 that requires an investment adviser to maintain records of its advisory representatives' personal transactions in securities. The proposed amendments are intended to enhance board of director oversight of the policies governing personal transactions in securities by investment company personnel and to make available to the public additional information about these policies.