Federated Investors [profile] might go private if the SEC pushes through its new round of money market fund regulations. On Thursday Christopher Donahue, the CEO of the Pittsburgh-based mutual fund firm and a vocal critic of the SEC's proposals, said at a Citigroup financial services conference that going private again could be a contingency plan for Federated if the new regs pass.

The Pittsburgh Business Times, the Pittsburgh Tribune Review and Reuters all reported on Donahue's remarks.

SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro is pushing several new money fund regs, including: switching to floating net asset values instead of stable $1 NAVs; requiring fund firms to set up capital buffers for money funds; and restricting redemptions from the funds. Donahue has already threatened legal action to stop the proposals [see MFWire.com, 1/30/2012].

Federated (FII on the NYSE) IPO'd in 1960, was bought out by Aetna in 1982, sold to a Donahue-family-controlled trust in 1989 and went public again in 1998. It's now worth $2.13 billion, as of market close on Friday, and has about $285 billion in money market assets, as well as about $88 billion in equity and bond fund assets. 

Edited by: Neil Anderson, Managing Editor


Stay ahead of the news ... Sign up for our email alerts now
CLICK HERE