SEC chair Mary Schapiro has canceled her appearance scheduled for 7:30 this morning at the ICI General Membership Meeting in the wake of Thursday afternoon's market dive. Taking Schapiro's place on the podium was Buddy Donahue, director of the SEC's division of investment management.

ICI president Paul Schott Stevens, who introduced Donahue, told conference attendees: "We were very much looking forward to SEC chair Mary Schapiro being here today, but she is preoccupied with her official duties."

He added in jest: "The plunge in the stock market yesterday coincided almost exactly when the panel yesterday were talking about 12b-1s."

Before launching into Schapiro's speech, Donahue offered an apology: "Chairman Schapiro wanted to apologize for not being here this morning. She felt it was important to remain in the office to look into the unusual trading activity that took place yesterday afternoon."

The prepared remarks delved into the importance of increasing transparency in the municipal securities markets.

During the Q&A portion, Donahue was asked about 12b-1s and the target-date fund guidance, released last night, that the SEC had developed jointly with the Department of Labor.

"It's a difficult issue," Donahue said of 12b-1s. "I'm hopeful we can have a 12b-1 proposal in the very near future." 

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