OTHER NEWS - Nov. 27, 1993

Tax Change Possible for Foreign Fund Buyers: Overseas investors would find it cheaper to put their money into the growing U.S. mutual fund market under proposed legislation circulating in Congress. The $1.9-trillion mutual fund industry continues to attract American investors in droves, but would-be foreign buyers are subject to steep withholding taxes. The bill proposed recently by a group of senators would provide overseas investors with the same tax treatment as foreigners who put money directly into individual U.S. shares or mutual funds sold offshore. It would change federal tax laws that now characterize interest income and short-term capital gains distributed by a U.S. mutual fund to a foreign investor as dividends subject to a 30% withholding tax.