A top federal regulator's effort to reform money market funds - reform them into uselessness, that is - is dead. But don't celebrate yet; this bureaucratic monster may still try to rise from its crypt.
For four decades, money funds have served investors well as a place to park cash that they might need on short notice, usually at somewhat higher interest rates than are available at a federally insured bank. The funds are not insured, and their value is not guaranteed, though their share price is held constant at $1 per share by design. Only twice has a fund "broken the buck" by allowing its shares to fall below $1. (Shares will never rise above that value, because the funds can simply issue new shares.)