College of Management Launches New Financial Services Forum with Report on Mutual Fund Scandal

By Mary Ann Machanic

The College of Management (CM) announced the formation of the CM Financial Services Forum at its first symposium, "Crisis of Confidence: Integrity in the Financial Services Industry," which was held February 12 at Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. The forum, which seeks to link college and industry, will conduct relevant and timely research in the financial services area and address issues of importance to the financial services sector in New England, as well as nationally.

"The forum serves as a means of promoting discussion and dialogue on suitable topics," says Arindam Bandopadhyaya, author of the "Crisis of Confidence" report and director of research for the forum. In a format initiated at the February 12 event, research is disseminated in writing and in symposiums that include a panel of experts, who react to and comment on the research report and discuss other points related to the topic.
The inaugural symposium focused on Bandopadhyaya's report "The Mutual Fund Industry Investigation: Timing Isn't Everything" and widespread improprieties in the mutual fund industry practices of market timing and late trading.

Examining the issues of ethics, legality, and future reforms, Bandopadhyaya and panelists discussed the issues plaguing the industry today. Participants included: Edward D'Alelio '74, CM executive-in-residence; Lawrence Gennari LLC, attorney of Gadsby Hannah; Len Darling, retired vice chairman and chief investment officer of Oppenheimer Funds; Russ Haskell, an industry consultant; and Linda Bridgman, district trial counsel from the Boston Office of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

In the future, the CM Financial Services Forum will be the source of a speakers' bureau of professionals and will produce a Financial Services Alert report on events in the recent past that are likely to affect and shape the future of the financial services sector. The forum plans to publish a semiannual review that will be a collection of articles written by practitioners and academicians and to construct an aggregate that will measure the pulse of the financial sector.
The current report is available on www.management.umb.edu.

Image: Panelists at the February 12 "Crisis of Confidence: Integrity in the Financial Services Industry" symposium discuss improprieties in the mutual fund industry: Edward D'Alelio, CM executive-in-residence; Lawrence Gennari, attorney for Gadsby Hannah LLC; and Len Darling, retired vice chairman and chief financial officer of Oppenheimer Funds. (Photo by Harry Brett)

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