(3) COMMISSION ACTION.-The Commission shall exercise its authority under this subsection with due regard for the benefits of internal compliance policies and procedures and the effective implementation and operation thereof.

(c) LIMITATIONS ON DISCLOSURE BY COMMISSION.-Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the Commission shall not be compelled to disclose any internal compliance or audit records, or information contained therein, provided to the Commission under this section. Nothing in this subsection shall authorize the Commission to withhold information from the Congress or prevent the Commission from complying with a request for information from any other Federal department or agency requesting the information for purposes within the scope of the jurisdiction of that department or agency, or complying with an order of a court of the United States in an action brought by the United States or the Commission. For purposes of section 552 of title 5, United States Code, this section shall be considered a statute described in subsection (b)(3)(B) of such section 552.

(d) DEFINITIONS.-For purposes of this section

(1) the term "internal compliance policies and procedures" means policies and procedures designed by subject persons to promote compliance with the Federal securities laws; and

(2) the term "internal compliance and audit record" means any record prepared by a subject person in accordance with internal compliance policies and procedures.

(e) REGULATORY AUTHORITY.-The Commission may, in the public interest or for the protection of investors, issue rules and regulations providing for a reasonable degree of uniformity in the accounting policies and principles to be followed by registered investment companies in maintaining their accounting records and in preparing financial statements required pursuant to this title.

(f) EXEMPTION AUTHORITY.-The Commission, upon application made by any registered investment company, may by order exempt a specific transaction or transactions from the provisions of any rule or regulation made pursuant to subsection (e), if the Commission finds that such rule or regulation should not reasonably be applied to such transaction.

ACCOUNTANTS AND AUDITORS

SEC. 32. [80a-31] (a) It shall be unlawful for any registered management company or registered face-amount certificate company to file with the Commission any financial statement signed or certified by an independent public accountant, unless

(1) such accountant shall have been selected at a meeting held within thirty days before or after the beginning of the fiscal year or before the annual meeting of stockholders in that year by the vote, cast in person, of a majority of those members of the board of directors who are not interested persons of such registered company;

(2) such selection shall have been submitted for ratification or rejection at the next succeeding annual meeting of stockholders if such meeting be held, except that any vacancy occurring between annual meetings, due to the death or resignation of the accountant, may be filled by the vote of a majority of

those members of the board of directors who are not interested persons of such registered company, cast in person at a meeting called for the purpose of voting on such action;

(3) the employment of such accountant shall have been conditioned upon the right of the company by vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities at any meeting called for the purpose to terminate such employment forthwith without any penalty; and

(4) such certificate or report of such accountant shall be addressed both to the board of directors of such registered company and to the security holders thereof.

If the selection of an accountant has been rejected pursuant to paragraph (2) or his employment terminated pursuant to paragraph (3), the vacancy so occurring may be filled by a vote of a majority of the outstanding voting securities, either at the meeting at which the rejection or termination occurred or, if not so filled, at a subsequent meeting which shall be called for the purpose. In the case of a common-law trust of the character described in section 16(c), no ratification of the employment of such accountant shall be required but such employment may be terminated and such accountant removed by action of the holders of record of a majority of the outstanding shares of beneficial interest in such trust in the same manner as is provided in section 16(c) in respect of the removal of a trustee, and all the provisions therein contained as to the calling of a meeting shall be applicable. In the event of such termination and removal, the vacancy so occurring may be filled by action of the holders of record of a majority of the shares of beneficial interest either at the meeting, if any, at which such termination and removal occurs, or by instruments in writing filed with the custodian, or if not so filed within a reasonable time then at a subsequent meeting which shall be called by the trustees for the purpose. The provisions of paragraph (42) of section 2(a) as to a majority shall be applicable to the vote cast at any meeting of the shareholders of such a trust held pursuant to this subsection.

(b) No registered management company or registered faceamount certificate company shall file with the Commission any financial statement in the preparation of which the controller or other principal accounting officer or employee of such company participated, unless such controller, officer or employee was selected, either by vote of the holders of such company's voting securities at the last annual meeting of such security holders, or by the board of directors of such company.

(c) The Commission is authorized, by rules and regulations or order in the public interest or for the protection of investors, to require accountants and auditors to keep reports, work sheets, and other documents and papers relating to registered investment companies for such period or periods as the Commission may prescribe, and to make the same available for inspection by the Commission or any member or representative thereof.

FILING OF DOCUMENTS WITH COMMISSION IN CIVIL ACTIONS

SEC. 33. [80a-32] Every registered investment company which is a party and every affiliated person of such company who is a party defendant to any action or claim by a registered investment

company or a security holder thereof in a derivative or representative capacity against an officer, director, investment adviser, trustee, or depositor of such company, shall file with the Commission, unless already so filed, (1) a copy of all pleadings, verdicts, or judgments filed with the court or served in connection with such action or claim, (2) a copy of any proposed settlement, compromise, or discontinuance of such action, and (3) a copy of such motions, transcripts, or other documents filed in or issued by the court or served in connection with such action or claim as may be requested in writing by the Commission. If any document referred to in clause (1) or (2)

(A) is delivered to such company or party defendant, such document shall be filed with the Commission not later than ten days after the receipt thereof; or

(B) is filed in such court or delivered by such company or party defendant, such document shall be filed with the Commission not later than five days after such filing or delivery.

DESTRUCTION AND FALSIFICATION OF REPORTS AND RECORDS

SEC. 34. [80a-33] (a) It shall be unlawful for any person, except as permitted by rule, regulation, or order of the Commission, willfully to destroy, mutilate, or alter any account, book, or other document the preservation of which has been required pursuant to section 31(a) or 32(c).

(b) It shall be unlawful for any person to make any untrue statement of a material fact in any registration statement, application, report, account, record, or other document filed or transmitted pursuant to this title or the keeping of which is required pursuant to section 31(a). It shall be unlawful for any person so filing, transmitting, or keeping any such document to omit to state therein any fact necessary in order to prevent the statements made therein, in the light of the circumstances under which they were made, from being materially misleading. For the purposes of this subsection, any part of any such document which is signed or certified by an accountant or auditor in his capacity as such shall be deemed to be made, filed, transmitted, or kept by such accountant or auditor, as well as by the person filing, transmitting, or keeping the complete document.

UNLAWFUL REPRESENTATIONS AND NAMES

SEC. 35. [80a-34] (a) It shall be unlawful for any person, in issuing or selling any security of which a registered investment company is the issuer, to represent or imply in any manner whatsoever that such security or company has been guaranteed, sponsored, recommended, or approved by the United States or any agency or officer thereof.

(b) It shall be unlawful for any person registered under any section of this title to represent or imply in any manner whatsoever that such person has been sponsored, recommended, or approved, or that his abilities or qualifications have in any respect been passed upon by the United States or any agency or officer thereof.

(c) No provision of subsection (a) or (b) shall be construed to prohibit a statement that a person or security is registered under

this Act, the Securities Act of 1933, or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, if such statement is true in fact and if the effect of such registration is not misrepresented.

(d) DECEPTIVE OR MISLEADING NAMES.-It shall be unlawful for any registered investment company to adopt as a part of the name or title of such company, or of any securities of which it is the issuer, any word or words that the Commission finds are materially deceptive or misleading. The Commission is authorized, by rule, regulation, or order, to define such names or titles as are materially deceptive or misleading.

BREACH OF FIDUCIARY DUTY

SEC. 36. [80a-35] (a) The Commission is authorized to bring an action in the proper district court of the United States, or in the United States court of any territory or other place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States, alleging that a person serving or acting in one or more of the following capacities has engaged within five years of the commencement of the action or is about to engage in any act or practice constituting a breach of fiduciary duty involving personal misconduct in respect of any registered investment company for which such person so serves or acts

(1) as officer, director, member of any advisory board, investment adviser, or depositor; or

(2) as principal underwriter, if such registered company is an open-end company, unit investment trust, or face-amount certificate company.

If such allegations are established, the court may enjoin such persons from acting in any or all such capacities either permanently or temporarily and award such injunctive or other relief against such person as may be reasonable and appropriate in the circumstances, having due regard to the protection of investors and to the effectuation of the policies declared in section 1(b) of this title.

(b) For the purposes of this subsection, the investment adviser of a registered investment company shall be deemed to have a fiduciary duty with respect to the receipt of compensation for services, or of payments of a material nature, paid by such registered investment company, or by the security holders thereof, to such investment adviser or any affiliated person of such investment adviser. An action may be brought under this subsection by the Commission, or by a security holder of such registered investment company on behalf of such company, against such investment adviser, or any affiliated person of such investment adviser, or any other person enumerated in subsection (a) of this section who has a fiduciary duty concerning such compensation or payments, for breach of fiduciary duty in respect of such compensation or payments paid by such registered investment company or by the security holders thereof to such investment adviser or person. With respect to any such action the following provisions shall apply:

(1) It shall not be necessary to allege or prove that any defendant engaged in personal misconduct, and the plaintiff shall have the burden of proving a breach of fiduciary duty.

(2) In any such action approval by the board of directors of such investment company of such compensation or pay

ments, or of contracts or other arrangements providing for such compensation or payments, and ratification or approval of such compensation or payments, or of contracts or other arrangements providing for such compensation or payments, by the shareholders of such investment company, shall be given such consideration by the court as is deemed appropriate under all the circumstances.

(3) No such action shall be brought or maintained against any person other than the recipient of such compensation or payments, and no damages or other relief shall be granted against any person other than the recipient of such compensation or payments. No award of damages shall be recoverable for any period prior to one year before the action was instituted. Any award of damages against such recipient shall be limited to the actual damages resulting from the breach of fiduciary duty and shall in no event exceed the amount of compensation or payments received from such investment company, or the security holders thereof, by such recipient.

(4) This subsection shall not apply to compensation or payments made in connection with transactions subject to section 17 of this title, or rules, regulations, or orders thereunder, or to sales loads for the acquisition of any security issued by a registered investment company.

(5) Any action pursuant to this subsection may be brought only in an appropriate district court of the United States.

(6) No finding by a court with respect to a breach of fiduciary duty under this subsection shall be made a basis (A) for a finding of a violation of this title for the purposes of sections 9 and 49 of this title, section 15 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, or section 203 of title II of this Act, or (B) for an injunction to prohibit any person from serving in any of the capacities enumerated in subsection (a) of this section.

(c) For the purposes of subsections (a) and (b) of this section, the term "investment adviser" includes a corporate or other trustee performing the functions of an investment adviser.

LARCENY AND EMBEZZLEMENT

SEC. 37. [80a-36] Whoever steals, unlawfully abstracts, unlawfully and willfully converts to his own use or to the use of another, or embezzles any of the moneys, funds, securities, credits, property, or assets of any registered investment company shall be deemed guilty of a crime, and upon conviction thereof shall be subject to the penalties provided in section 49. A judgment of conviction or acquittal on the merits under the laws of any State shall be a bar to any prosecution under this section for the same act or acts.

RULES, REGULATIONS, AND ORDERS; GENERAL POWERS OF

COMMISSION

SEC. 38. [80a-37] (a) The Commission shall have authority from time to time to make, issue, amend, and rescind such rules and regulations and such orders as are necessary or appropriate to the exercise of the powers conferred upon the Commission else