ICI Supports Proposal to Require Electronic Filing of Transfer Agent Forms

Washington, DC, October 26, 2006 - The Institute strongly supports the goal of an SEC proposal that would require all transfer agent registration, annual reporting, and withdrawal-from-registration forms to be filed with the Commission electronically.

Background
Earlier this year, the SEC proposed to require that transfer agents file electronically all forms with respect to registration, annual reporting, and withdrawal from registration. The forms would be filed on the SEC's EDGAR database in XML format and would be accessible to Commission staff and the public for search and retrieval.

ICI Position
In a recent comment letter, the Institute expresses its support for the Commission's goal, which is to improve its ability to utilize the information reported on the transfer agent forms in performing its oversight function of transfer agent operations and to publicly disseminate the information on the forms. In addition, the Institute asks the SEC to more clearly define certain technical terms used in the proposal.

Overall, the Institute has expressed strong support for a recent efforts to make greater use of the Internet, including an NYSE proposal requiring listed companies to make their annual reports to shareholders available online, and an SEC proposal permitting issuers to use the Internet to furnish proxy materials to shareholders. Earlier this year, ICI announced an initiative to expand the use of data tagging in electronic mutual fund filings, enabling fund investors and advisers to easily summon up and compare information on hundreds of funds.

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