Mutual fund fleecing
Pay attention, little people -- your retirement account is in bad hands
by Molly Ivins

I'd really like to know: What were they thinking? What did the traders, directors and managers of mutual funds think they were doing? Did they think, "Everybody does it?" Did they figure, "It's not really stealing; not actually taking money away from someone, it's just that they won't make as much as they might have?" Did they think the big customers were entitled to more? Why?

A series of mutual fund folks appeared before the Senate governmental affairs hearing on the issue this week. "Outrage," "Shocking," "Betrayal," they all said. Better compliance system, rule changes, regulatory action, reforms, restitution, they all said. Among other things, these Senate hearings should be required viewing for every right-wing ideologue who rants against government regulations -- those horrible, onerous government regulations. If you want to know why government regulations get written in the first place, this is the perfect opportunity. It's a huge, stinking scandal that affects the savings and pensions of millions of people, and the very people who created it are now begging for new regulations.
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'Skimming Operation'
Senator rips mutual funds

A fuller, darker picture of trading abuses within the mutual fund industry emerged yesterday as another high-level executive resigned under pressure.

In a hearing on Capitol Hill, regulators presented evidence of a two-tiered system where professional insiders and big investors benefit at the expense of small shareholders.
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  thanks to Politics in the Zeros