Institute Raises Concerns About California 403(b) BillWashington, DC, July 3, 2002 - In a recent comment letter, the Institute expressed concerns about Assembly Bill 2506-legislation under consideration by the California Senate-that would require the California Teachers' Retirement Board, which manages the State Teachers' Retirement System, to establish a registration process for vendors seeking to offer retirement products under section 403(b) to employees of local school districts, community college districts, and county offices of education. The information obtained through the registration process would be posted on an impartial information bank maintained by the Board on an Internet website. Registered vendors would bear the costs of creating and maintaining the information bank. The Institute believes that the information that would be provided on the information bank website is already available to potential investors of mutual funds through their prospectuses. The Institute also raises industry-specific concerns about: - the assessment of fees;
- the open-ended nature of those fees; and
- the bill's specific requirement that a vendor must describe in its registration its "willingness to negotiate reasonable indemnification agreements."
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