Soft' commissions likely to stay
US regulators are set to allow fund managers to continue to obtain independent equity research through commissions paid by their clients.
William Donaldson, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, has signalled he is against a ban on “soft dollar” commissions but instead favours reform that would seek to stamp out abuses of the arrangements.
The regulator's reluctance to prohibit such commissions is partly driven by surveys suggesting that the arrangements pay for much of the equity research done outside the big Wall Street securities firms.
“Anything that inhibited third-party research being done outside the big firms would be a real mistake,” Mr Donaldson told the Financial Times.
Greenwich Associates, a consulting firm, estimates that third-party equity research and services was supported by soft dollar commissions worth $1.24bn in 2003-04. That represented an 18 per cent decline on 2002-03, mostly because some fund managers scaled back their use ofthe commissions due to uncertainty about action by the SEC.
Mr Donaldson has been considering a report by an SEC taskforce on soft dollar commissions, and said he wants to to proceed with reform this year.
Although no final decisions have been made, Mr Donaldson favours better disclosure of the traditionally opaque commissions to deal with concerns about conflicts of interest.
Brokers provide a bundle of services under soft dollar commissions, including research for fund managers as well as execution of stock trades for their clients. The research available through the brokers can include third-party material as well as in-house work.
Conflicts of interest potentially arise between the fund manager's need for research and the client's interest in getting the lowest possible commissions.
Congress passed legislation in 1975 that gives fund managers protection against legal claims that they have breached their fiduciary duty by causing clients to pay more than the lowest available commissions in exchange for brokerage and certain research services. The SEC liberalised the definition of research services under the legislation in 1986.
In recent years, European and US regulators have expressed concern at the services obtained by fund managers under soft dollar commissions. A 1998 survey by the SEC found one hedge fund manager had used commissions to pay for a limousine and theatre tickets.
Mr Donaldson said: “I think you will see us moving in the direction of a tighter definition of what is allowable to be paid for via soft dollars.”
美证交会给“软钱”佣金开绿灯
美国监管机构将允许基金管理公司继续通过它们客户支付的佣金，来获得独立股票研究。
美国证券交易委员会(SEC)主席威廉?唐纳森(William Donaldson)已表示，他反对禁止“软钱”佣金(编者注: 即基金公司付给券商的部分交易佣金)，但支持改革以防滥用。
一些调查显示，此类安排为许多在大型华尔街证券公司以外所做的股票研究付账。监管机构不愿禁止此类佣金，部分是受这些调查结果的驱动。
“禁止在大公司外进行第三方研究的任何行为都将是十分错误的，”唐纳森先生对《金融时报》说。
咨询公司Greenwich Associates估计，2003至2004年间，第三方股票研究和服务得到了价值12.4亿美元“软钱”佣金的支持。这比2002至2003年下降了18%，主要是因为美国证交会的行动具有不确定性，一些基金管理机构从而减少了这类佣金的使用。
唐纳森先生一直在考虑美国证交会一个软钱佣金工作小组提交的一份报告，并表示，他希望今年着手进行改革。
尽管还没有做出最终决定，但唐纳森先生赞成对这种一贯不透明的佣金进行更好的披露，以解决有关利益冲突的担忧。
经纪商按照软钱佣金方式提供大量服务，包括为基金管理机构提供研究，以及为客户执行证券交易。经纪商提供的研究可以包括第三方内容以及公司自己提供的工作。
基金管理机构有研究需求，而客户有意获得尽可能低的佣金价格，二者之间可能出现利益冲突。
