Following Remand from D.C. Circuit SEC Determines Fund Governance Rules Need No Modification

At an open meeting on June 29, 2005, the SEC voted 3-2 not to alter its prior adoption of additional governance requirements for investment companies ("funds") registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the "1940 Act"). The SEC’s reconsideration was prompted by the June 21, 2005 decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit reviewing a petition by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that challenged the SEC’s adoption of conditions for reliance on certain commonly used exemptive rules under the 1940 Act. The challenged conditions require a fund relying on one of the designated exemptive rules to (a) have a chairman of the board who is not an interested person of the investment company within the meaning of the 1940 Act (an "independent director") and (b) have a board of directors consisting of no less than 75% independent directors. The Commissioners’ votes at the June 29 meeting mirrored those on the original rulemaking with Commissioners