Briefly:

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Friday that there had been an agreement “in principle” with Switzerland over a tax case involving Swiss bank UBS.

“There has been agreement reached in the litigation,” said Clinton before a meeting with Switzerland’s foreign minister. Asked if there were any outstanding issues in the case, Clinton said that the agreement had been reached “in principle.”

The dispute between UBS and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is over the names of the Swiss bank’s 52,000 clients who had offshore accounts that likely broke federal tax laws.

The IRS is fighting to have the “John Doe Summons” enforced so that the names of the bank’s customers involved could be revealed. However, the government of Switzerland has said that uncovering the customers’ identity is a violation of Swiss banking laws.

A status conference among the parties to resolve the John Doe Summons litigation is scheduled for Aug. 7, 2009.

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Investors approve Invesco fund changes

At today’s annual meeting, investors approved four fund mergers and a change in mandate for AIM American Growth Fund.

These product changes are designed to simplify and strengthen Invesco Trimark’s product lineup and provide investors with a more cost-effective and enduring suite of products.

Four mutual funds (“Non-continuing funds”) will be merged into other mutual funds (“Continuing funds”) as follows:

Invesco Trimark Core Global Equity Class

With the change in the investment mandate of the AIM American Growth Fund, the fund will be renamed AIM Global Balanced Fund.

These product changes will take effect after the close of the business day on Aug. 14, 2009.

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CC&L terminates fund

Connor, Clark & Lunn (CC&L) Managed Portfolios announced today that the CC&L Aggressive Equity Portfolio would be terminated on Oct. 1, 2009.

Starting today, units of CC&L Aggressive Equity Portfolio are no longer available for purchase.

The decision to terminate the portfolio was driven by a combination of factors: the small number of unitholders, the relatively low assets and the difficulty of maintaining the desired asset allocation for investors with such a small fund.

Prior to the portfolio’s termination, unitholders will have the option to redeem their investments or switch to another portfolio offered by CC&L Managed Portfolios.

Unitholders who do not take action before Oct. 1, 2009, will have the market value of their portfolios sent to them via cheque.

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New options based on gas ETF

Options on the Claymore Natural Gas Commodity exchange traded fund can now be traded on the Montreal Exchange.

“Options on the Claymore GAS ETF highlight what is possible at TMX Group,” said Glenn Goucher, senior vice-president with the Montreal Exchange. “The ETF is based on the benchmark natural gas prices established by TMX’s NGX and is listed and traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange, with options trading on the Montreal Exchange. This integrated model provides investors and issuers a unique opportunity within Canadian capital markets.”

The Claymore Natural Gas Commodity ETF has been designed to track Canadian natural gas prices in Canadian dollars, minus fees and expenses. The ETF provides non-leveraged exposure to the Alberta natural gas market by investing in physical natural gas forward contracts.

(07/31/09)

Staff

The staff of Advisor.ca have been covering news for financial advisors since 1998.