The Investment Trust Association of Japan unveiled on Friday new rules for management and marketing of money management funds to help ensure the integrity of the funds and promote their disclosure standards.
The move comes in the wake of growing investor concern about MMFs. Recently, funds incorporating bonds issued by failed U.S. energy giant Enron Corp. fell below their par value.
According to the association, the new rules stipulate securities to be incorporated in MMFs should have investment grades, and that securities issued by the same firm should represent no more than 5 percent of net assets.
The association said it believes the new rules will help to improve the safety of MMFs and restore investor confidence in the funds.
Meanwhile, the association also said the amount of MMFs canceled in December was more than 6.388 trillion yen, a record monthly high.
Net assets in MMFs incurred a month-to-month fall of 5.943 trillion yen to 7.722 trillion yen, it said.