(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 a majority of those members of the board of directors who are not investment advisers of, or affiliated persons of an investment adviser of, or officers or employees 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 anuual meetings, due to the death or resignation of the accountant, may be filled by the board of directors;

(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:

Provided, That 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 then 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 (b) 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 said section 16 (b) 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 filled within a reasonable time then at a subsequent meeting which shall be called by the trustees for the purpose. The provisions of paragraph (40) 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.

SETTLEMENT OF CIVIL ACTIONS

SEC. 33. (a) 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 capacity against an officer, director, investment adviser, trustee, or depositor of such company for an alleged breach of official duty, which such action or claim is commenced or asserted after the effective date of this title, shall transmit, unless already transmitted to the Commission, the documents specified in subsection (b) hereof if—

(1) such action has been compromised or settled and such settlement or compromise has had the approval of a court having jurisdiction to approve such settlement or compromise; or

(2) a verdict has been rendered or final judgment entered on the merits in such action.

(b) Within thirty days after such settlement or compromise, verdict or final judgment, copies of all pleadings and any written record made in such action, together with a statement of the terms of settlement or compromise, if such terms be not included in the record, shall be transmitted to the Commission; and any information. contained in any such documents may be used by the Commission in connection with any report or study which may be made by the Commission of lawsuits whether of investment companies or companies generally: Provided, That the names of persons involved shall not be disclosed.

DESTRUCTION AND FALSIFICATION OF REPORTS AND RECORDS

SEC. 34. (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. (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) It shall be unlawful for any registered investment company hereafter to adopt as a part of the name or title of such company, or of any security of which it is the issuer, any word or words which the Commission finds and by order declares to be deceptive or misleading. The Commission is authorized to bring an action in the proper district court of the United States or United States court of any Territory or other place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States alleging that the name or title of any registered investment company, or of any security which it has issued, is materially deceptive or misleading. If the court finds that the Commission's allegations in this respect, taking into consideration the history of the investment company and the length of time which it may have used any such name or title, are established, the court shall enjoin such investment company from continuing to use any such name or title.

INJUNCTIONS AGAINST GROSS ABUSE

SEC. 36. The Commission is authorized to bring an action in the proper district court of the United States or 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 been guilty, after the enactment of this title and within five years of the commencement of the action, of gross misconduct or gross abuse of trust in respect of any registered investment company for which such person so serves or acts:

(1) as officer, director, member of an 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 the Commission's allegations of such gross misconduct or gross abuse of trust are established, the court shall enjoin such person from acting in such capacity or capacities either permanently or for such period of time as it in its discretion shall deem appropriate.

LARCENY AND EMBEZZLEMENT

SEC. 37. 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. (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 elsewhere in this title, including rules and regulations defining accounting, technical, and trade terms used in this title, and prescribing the form or forms in which information required in registration statements, applications, and reports to the Commission shall be set forth. For the purposes of its rules or regulations the Commission may classify persons, securities, and other matters within its jurisdiction and prescribe different requirements for different classes of persons, securities, or matters.

(b) The Commission, by such rules and regulations or order as it deems necessary or appropriate in the public interest or for the protection of investors, may authorize the filing of any information or documents required to be filed with the Commission under this title, title II of this Act, the Securities Act of 1933, the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935, or the Trust Indenture Act of 1939, by incorporating by reference any information or documents theretofore or concurrently filed with the Commission under this title or any of such Acts.

(c) No provision of this title imposing any liability shall apply to any act done or omitted in good faith in conformity with any rule, regulation, or order of the Commission, notwithstanding that such rule, regulation, or order may, after such act or omission, be amended or rescinded or be determined by judicial or other authority to be invalid for any reason.

RULES AND REGULATIONS; PROCEDURE FOR ISSUANCE

SEC. 39. Subject to the provisions of the Federal Register Act and regulations prescribed under the authority thereof, the rules and regulations of the Commission under this title, and amendments thereof, shall be effective upon publication in the manner which the Commission shall prescribe, or upon such later date as may be provided in such rules and regulations.

ORDERS; PROCEDURE FOR ISSUANCE

SEC. 40. (a) Orders of the Commission under this title shall be issued only after appropriate notice and opportunity for hearing.

Notice to the parties to a proceeding before the Commission shall be given by personal service upon each party or by registered mail or confirmed telegraphic notice to the party's last known business. address. Notice to interested persons, if any, other than parties may be given in the same manner or by publication in the Federal Register.

(b) The Commission may provide, by appropriate rules or regulations, that an application verified under oath may be admissible in evidence in a proceeding before the Commission and that the record in such a proceeding may consist, in whole or in part, of such application.

(c) In any proceeding before the Commission, the Commission, in accordance with such rules and regulations as it may prescribe, shall admit as a party any interested State or State agency, and may admit as a party any representative of interested security holders, or any other person whose participation in the proceeding may be in the public interest or for the protection of investors.

HEARINGS BY COMMISSION

SEC. 41. Hearings may be public and may be held before the Commission, any member or members thereof, or any officer or officers of the Commission designated by it, and appropriate records thereof shall be kept.

ENFORCEMENT OF TITLE

SEC. 42. (a) The Commission may make such investigations as it deems necessary to determine whether any person has violated or is about to violate any provision of this title or of any rule, regulation, or order hereunder, or to determine whether any action in any court or any proceeding before the Commission shall be instituted under this title against a particular person or persons, or with respect to a particular transaction or transactions. The Commission shall permit any person to file with it a statement in writing, under oath or otherwise as the Commission shall determine, as to all the facts and circumstances concerning the matter to be investigated.

(b) For the purpose of any investigation or any other proceeding under this title, any member of the Commission, or any officer thereof designated by it, is empowered to administer oaths and affirmations, subpena witnesses, compel their attendance, take evidence, and require the production of any books, papers, correspondence, memoranda, contracts, agreements, or other records which are relevant or material to the inquiry. Such attendance of witnesses and the production of any such records may be required from any place in any State or in any Territory or other place subject to the jurisdiction of the United States at any designated place of hearing.

(c) In case of contumacy by, or refusal to obey a subpena issued to, any person, the Commission may invoke the aid of any court of the United States within the jurisdiction of which such investigation or proceeding is carried on, or where such person resides or carries on business, in requiring the attendance and testimony of witnesses and the production of books, papers, correspondence, memoranda, contracts, agreements, and other records. And such court may issue an order requiring such person to appear before the Commission or mem