The Securities and Exchange Commission proposed regulations designed to make it easier for companies to operate and trade exchange-traded funds.
Currently, exchange-traded funds track different indexes and must be exempt from some securities rules in order to start trading.
The rules the SEC proposed Tuesday would make it easier for exchange-traded funds to go to market and would make the products less expensive, the agency said.
A related proposal from the SEC would require exchange-traded funds to provide investors with summary prospectuses containing information about the products. That proposal includes traditional exchange-traded funds that track indexes as well as new actively managed exchange-traded funds.
According to the Investment Company Institute, ETF assets stood at $569 billion at the end of January, versus $151 billion at the end of 2003. The number of exchange-traded funds went to 635 from 119 during that span, said the institute, which represents the fund industry.
