WSJ.com - Google Asks SEC For Exemption From Trading Rule

 The future's so bright...

Search-engine company Google Inc. has piled up so much cash that it is in danger of being mistaken for an investment fund.

The company, which wants to diversify its investment strategy but doesn't want to be regulated as a mutual fund, has asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to exempt it from regulations that can apply to a company with a lot of marketable securities on its balance sheet.

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Google's most recent quarterly balance sheet listed assets totaling $14.4 billion, including $4 billion in cash and $5.8 billion in marketable securities. Under the Investment Company Act of 1940, a company with more than 40% of its assets in certain types of securities is subject to different disclosure and operating rules.

Source: WSJ.com - Google Asks SEC For Exemption From Trading Rule