The Investment Company Institute has asked the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority for some leeway, according to a published report. The lobbying group says mutual funds should be allowed to use brokers to staff call centers on a temporary basis during peak business periods. FINRA is already planning to ease registration and qualification requirements for brokers, but it hasn't addressed this issue.

Currently, FINRA is proposing a rule that would only allow fund firms to send employees to the call centers if the firms would keep them there for at least a year.

But in a letter to FINRA, the ICI noted that the number of calls coming into mutual fund call centers can rise dramatically at certain times, such as "during a tax season, following a natural disaster when shareholders need immediate access to their funds, or during times of market stress or uncertainty."

 

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