Exemption for Certain Open-End Management Investment Companies to Impose Deferred Sales Loads

The Commission is adopting amendments to the rule under the Investment Company Act of 1940 that permits contingent deferred sales loads to be imposed on the shares of certain registered open-end management investment companies ("mutual funds' or "funds'). The Commission also is adopting amendments to the registration form for mutual funds, and publishing a staff guide to the registration form. The rule amendments allow mutual funds to offer investors a wider variety of deferred sales loads, including installment loads, and eliminate certain requirements in the rule. The form amendments modify the requirements for disclosing deferred sales loads in mutual fund prospectuses to reflect the changes made by the rule amendments.