E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co. Inc., International Paper Co., General Motors Corp. and AT&T Corp. are curbing trades by their 401(k) plan participants. DuPont, Wilmington, Del., imposed a 15-day trading restriction on two international fund options in its $9.3 billion 401(k) plan; the company already has a three-day trading restriction on an international index fund. International Paper Co., Stamford, Conn., will impose a 24-hour timeout on all investors in its $3.7 billion 401(k) plan, effective Nov. 1, in response to market-timing trades of as much as $1 million by eight participants that came to light about a year ago, said Robert Hunkeler, vice president and director of investments.
GM, New York, is charging plan investors a 1% fee on rapid trades in some of its 76 investment options in its $16.3 billion defined contribution retirement plan, although it has not experienced market-timing abuses by participants, said Jerry Dubrowski, spokesman. AT&T, Basking Ridge, N.J., with $7.8 billion in 26 investment options, is imposing a penalty of 1% to 1.5% on sales and purchases made within 90 days on its international funds, a domestic high-income fund and a low-price stock fund, said a spokesman.
