Why did the SEC override strong industry opposition and require mutual-fund boards to appoint independent chairmen?
The commission felt, and I strongly agree, that there s an unacceptable conflict of interest when the chairman of the mutual-fund management company wears two hats: he s chairman of the management company and chairman of the company s mutual funds. That means the chairman has a fiduciary obligation to both of those sets of shareholders. It s impossible to wear those two hats. You ve been characterized as a quiet crusader. Is that how you see yourself as SEC chairman? I don t feel particularly comfortable with that characterization, except as follows. On the quiet side, I ve always felt that one s actions should speak louder than one s words. As for the crusader part, yes, when I came into this job I was upset by the fraudulent elements of the business and financial worlds. Even before that, I d been upset with the gradual erosion of ethics in some of our best companies. This is not unheard of in ebullient market times when everything s booming and people get sloppy in their ethical man
