The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has overturned Securities and Exchange Commission rules governing mutual funds, ruling that the agency should have sought public comment on associated costs last year when a court set the rules aside the first time. The three-member appellate panel unanimously decided, however, to give the SEC 90 days for public comment on the rules' costs and to resubmit the measures and make a case for them. The court explained that it did not suspend the rules now, because to do so would risk "substantial disruption" to the industry, a "significant portion" of which "have come into substantial compliance." The ruling will give SEC Chairman Christopher Cox three months to review the rules enacted by his predecessor, William Donaldson, in 2004.