Overview

The Commission is proposing amendments to the rule under the Investment Company Act of 1940 that permits investment companies that are affiliated with members of underwriting syndicates to purchase securities underwritten by these syndicates if certain conditions are met. The proposed amendments are designed to make the rule more flexible by, among other things, increasing the percentage of an underwriting that an investment company may purchase in reliance on the rule and expanding the scope of the rule to include foreign securities. The proposed amendments, and a proposed new companion rule, also would permit investment companies to acquire municipal securities from underwriting syndicates in "group sales.' The proposed amendments respond to changes in the investment company and underwriting industries that have occurred since the rule last was substantively amended in 1979.