Functional Regulation: An Analysis of Two Types of Pooled Investment Funds

GAO examined the implications and considerations associated with subjecting similar financial products and services to similar regulatory treatment, specifically mutual funds and bank-sponsored collective investment funds. This would allegedly result in eliminating the competitive advantage in the marketplace that one type of fund may have over the other. GAO developed two scenarios that could lead to more equal competition among pooled funds offered by investment companies and commercial banks offer.