-----BEGIN PRIVACY-ENHANCED MESSAGE----- Proc-Type: 2001,MIC-CLEAR Originator-Name: webmaster@www.sec.gov Originator-Key-Asymmetric: MFgwCgYEVQgBAQICAf8DSgAwRwJAW2sNKK9AVtBzYZmr6aGjlWyK3XmZv3dTINen TWSM7vrzLADbmYQaionwg5sDW3P6oaM5D3tdezXMm7z1T+B+twIDAQAB MIC-Info: RSA-MD5,RSA, S6+ZdHIMr2nuc74opRbqRdCk2Q2JK+bLLqf1TbeBKGMURtnmBMpfPnjGpix09oJ8 PdLrXa83bXVmctD7EV/YLA== 0000887318-06-000323.txt : 20061129 0000887318-06-000323.hdr.sgml : 20061129 20061129155934 ACCESSION NUMBER: 0000887318-06-000323 CONFORMED SUBMISSION TYPE: NSAR-B PUBLIC DOCUMENT COUNT: 3 CONFORMED PERIOD OF REPORT: 20060930 FILED AS OF DATE: 20061129 DATE AS OF CHANGE: 20061129 EFFECTIVENESS DATE: 20061129 FILER: COMPANY DATA: COMPANY CONFORMED NAME: ALLIANCEBERNSTEIN HIGH YIELD FUND INC CENTRAL INDEX KEY: 0001029843 IRS NUMBER: 000000000 FISCAL YEAR END: 0930 FILING VALUES: FORM TYPE: NSAR-B SEC ACT: 1940 Act SEC FILE NUMBER: 811-09160 FILM NUMBER: 061245463 BUSINESS ADDRESS: STREET 1: C/O ALLIANCE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LP STREET 2: 1345 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS CITY: NEW YORK STATE: NY ZIP: 10105 BUSINESS PHONE: 2129692124 MAIL ADDRESS: STREET 1: C/O ALLIANCE CAPITAL MANAGEMENT LP STREET 2: 1345 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS CITY: NEW YORK STATE: NY ZIP: 10105 FORMER COMPANY: FORMER CONFORMED NAME: ALLIANCE HIGH YIELD FUND INC DATE OF NAME CHANGE: 19961231 0001029843 S000010092 ALLIANCEBERNSTEIN HIGH YIELD FUND INC C000027961 Class A AHYAX C000027962 Class B AHHBX C000027963 Class C AHHCX C000027964 Advisor Class AHYYX C000027965 Class R AHHRX C000027966 Class K AHHKX C000027967 Class I AHHIX NSAR-B 1 answer.fil ANSWER PAGE 1 000 B000000 09/30/2006 000 C000000 0001029843 000 D000000 N 000 E000000 NF 000 F000000 Y 000 G000000 N 000 H000000 N 000 I000000 6.1 000 J000000 U 001 A000000 ALLIANCEBERNSTEIN HIGH YIELD FUND, INC. 001 B000000 811-9160 001 C000000 2013194105 002 A000000 1345 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS 002 B000000 NEW YORK 002 C000000 NY 002 D010000 10105 003 000000 N 004 000000 N 005 000000 N 006 000000 N 007 A000000 N 007 B000000 0 007 C010100 1 007 C010200 2 007 C010300 3 007 C010400 4 007 C010500 5 007 C010600 6 007 C010700 7 007 C010800 8 007 C010900 9 007 C011000 10 007 C011100 11 007 C011200 12 007 C011300 13 007 C011400 14 007 C011500 15 007 C011600 16 007 C011700 17 007 C011800 18 007 C011900 19 007 C012000 20 007 C012100 21 007 C012200 22 007 C012300 23 007 C012400 24 007 C012500 25 007 C012600 26 007 C012700 27 007 C012800 28 007 C012900 29 PAGE 2 007 C013000 30 008 A000001 ALLIANCEBERNSTEIN L.P. 008 B000001 A 008 C000001 801-56720 008 D010001 NEW YORK 008 D020001 NY 008 D030001 10105 011 A000001 ALLIANCEBERNSTEIN INVESTMENTS, INC. 011 B000001 8-30851 011 C010001 NEW YORK 011 C020001 NY 011 C030001 10105 012 A000001 ALLIANCEBERNSTEIN INVESTOR SERVICES, INC. 012 B000001 84-001187 012 C010001 SAN ANTONIO 012 C020001 TX 012 C030001 78278 013 A000001 ERNST & YOUNG LLP 013 B010001 NEW YORK 013 B020001 NY 013 B030001 10036 014 A000001 SANFORD C. 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N 080 A000000 NATIONAL UNION (AIG) 080 B000000 TRAVELERS-ST. PAUL MERCURY, CNA 080 C000000 100000 081 A000000 Y 081 B000000 124 082 A000000 N 082 B000000 0 083 A000000 N 083 B000000 0 084 A000000 N 084 B000000 0 085 A000000 Y 085 B000000 N 086 A010000 0 086 A020000 0 086 B010000 0 086 B020000 0 086 C010000 0 086 C020000 0 086 D010000 0 PAGE 10 086 D020000 0 086 E010000 0 086 E020000 0 086 F010000 0 086 F020000 0 SIGNATURE MARK D. GERSTEN TITLE TREASURER & CFO EX-99.77B ACCT LTTR 2 hyaudit0906.txt AUDIT Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm To the Shareholders and Board of Directors of AllianceBernstein High Yield Fund, Inc. In planning and performing our audit of the financial statements of AllianceBernstein High Yield Fund, Inc. (the "Fund") as of and for the year ended September 30, 2006, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), we considered its internal control over financial reporting, including control activities for safeguarding securities, as a basis for designing our auditing procedures for the purpose of expressing our opinion on the financial statements and to comply with the requirements of Form N- SAR, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Fund's internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion. The management of the Fund is responsible for establishing and maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting. In fulfilling this responsibility, estimates and judgments by management are required to assess the expected benefits and related costs of controls. A company's internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. Such internal control includes policies and procedures that provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of a company's assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements. Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate. A control deficiency exists when the design or operation of a control does not allow management or employees, in the normal course of performing their assigned functions, to prevent or detect misstatements on a timely basis. A significant deficiency is a control deficiency, or combination of control deficiencies, that adversely affects the company's ability to initiate, authorize, record, process or report external financial data reliably in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles such that there is more than a remote likelihood that a misstatement of the company's annual or interim financial statements that is more than inconsequential will not be prevented or detected. A material weakness is a significant deficiency, or combination of significant deficiencies, that results in more than a remote likelihood that a material misstatement of the annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected. Our consideration of the Fund's internal control over financial reporting was for the limited purpose described in the first paragraph and would not necessarily disclose all deficiencies in internal control that might be significant deficiencies or material weaknesses under standards established by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). However, we noted no deficiencies in the Fund's internal control over financial reporting and its operation, including controls for safeguarding securities, that we consider to be a material weakness as defined above as of September 30, 2006. This report is intended solely for the information and use of management and the Board of Directors of AllianceBernstein High Yield Fund, Inc. and the Securities and Exchange Commission and is not intended to be and should not be used by anyone other than these specified parties. Ernst & Young LLP New York, New York November 17, 2006 EX-99.77E LEGAL 3 legal0906.txt LEGAL AllianceBernstein High Yield. September-06 Exhibit 77E Legal Proceedings As has been previously reported, the staff of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") and the Office of New York Attorney General ("NYAG") have been investigating practices in the mutual fund industry identified as "market timing" and "late trading" of mutual fund shares. Certain other regulatory authorities have also been conducting investigations into these practices within the industry and have requested that the Adviser provide information to them. The Adviser has been cooperating and will continue to cooperate with all of these authorities. On December 18, 2003, the Adviser confirmed that it had reached terms with the SEC and the NYAG for the resolution of regulatory claims relating to the practice of "market timing" mutual fund shares in some of the AllianceBernstein Mutual Funds. The agreement with the SEC is reflected in an Order of the Commission ("SEC Order"). The agreement with the NYAG is memorialized in an Assurance of Discontinuance dated September 1, 2004 ("NYAG Order"). Among the key provisions of these agreements are the following: (i) The Adviser agreed to establish a $250 million fund (the "Reimbursement Fund") to compensate mutual fund shareholders for the adverse effects of market timing attributable to market timing relationships described in the SEC Order. According to the SEC Order, the Reimbursement Fund is to be paid, in order of priority, to fund investors based on (i) their aliquot share of losses suffered by the fund due to market timing, and (ii) a proportionate share of advisory fees paid by such fund during the period of such market timing; (ii) The Adviser agreed to reduce the advisory fees it receives from some of the AllianceBernstein long-term, open-end retail funds until December 31, 2008; and (iii) The Adviser agreed to implement changes to its governance and compliance procedures. Additionally, the SEC Order and the NYAG Order contemplate that the Adviser's registered investment company clients, including the Fund, will introduce governance and compliance changes. In anticipation of final, definitive documentation of the NYAG Order and effective January 1, 2004, the Adviser began waiving a portion of the advisory fee . On September 7, 2004, the investment advisory agreement was amended to reflect the reduced advisory fee at the annual rate of ..50% of the first $2.5 billion, ..45% of the next $2.5 billion and .40% in excess of $5 billion, of the Fund's average daily net assets. A special committee of the Adviser's Board of Directors, comprised of the members of the Adviser's Audit Committee and the other independent member of the Adviser's Board, directed and oversaw an internal investigation and a comprehensive review of the facts and circumstances relevant to the SEC's and the NYAG's investigations. In addition, the Independent Directors of the Fund ("the Independent Directors") have conducted an investigation of the above-mentioned matters with the advice of an independent economic consultant and independent counsel. On October 2, 2003, a purported class action complaint entitled Hindo, et al. v. AllianceBernstein Growth & Income Fund, et al. ("Hindo Complaint") was filed against the Adviser, Alliance Capital Management Holding L.P. ("Alliance Holding"), Alliance Capital Management Corporation, AXA Financial, Inc., the AllianceBernstein Funds, certain officers of the Adviser ("Alliance defendants"), and certain other defendants not affiliated with the Adviser, as well as unnamed Doe defendants. The Hindo Complaint was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York by alleged shareholders of two of the AllianceBernstein Funds. The Hindo Complaint alleges that certain of the Alliance defendants failed to disclose that they improperly allowed certain hedge funds and other unidentified parties to engage in "late trading" and "market timing" of AllianceBernstein Fund securities, violating Sections 11 and 15 of the Securities Act, Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Exchange Act and Sections 206 and 215 of the Advisers Act. Plaintiffs seek an unspecified amount of compensatory damages and rescission of their contracts with the Adviser, including recovery of all fees paid to the Adviser pursuant to such contracts. Since October 2, 2003, 43 additional lawsuits making factual allegations generally similar to those in the Hindo Complaint were filed in various federal and state courts against the Adviser and certain other defendants. The plaintiffs in such lawsuits have asserted a variety of theories for recovery including, but not limited to, violations of the Securities Act, the Exchange Act, the Advisers Act, the Investment Company Act, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended ("ERISA"), certain state securities laws and common law. All state court actions against the Adviser either were voluntarily dismissed or removed to federal court. On February 20, 2004, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation transferred all actions to the United States District Court for the District of Maryland (the "Mutual Fund MDL"). On September 29, 2004, plaintiffs filed consolidated amended complaints with respect to four claim types: mutual fund shareholder claims; mutual fund derivative claims; derivative claims brought on behalf of Alliance Holding; and claims brought under ERISA by participants in the Profit Sharing Plan for Employees of the Adviser. All four complaints include substantially identical factual allegations, which appear to be based in large part on the SEC Order and the NYAG Order. On April 21, 2006, the Adviser and attorneys for the plaintiffs in the mutual fund shareholder claims, mutual fund derivative claims, and ERISA claims entered into a confidential memorandum of understanding ("MOU") containing their agreement to settle these claims. The agreement will be documented by a stipulation of settlement and will be submitted for court approval at a later date. The derivative claims brought on behalf of Alliance Holding remain pending. On February 10, 2004, the Adviser received (i) a subpoena duces tecum from the Office of the Attorney General of the State of West Virginia and (ii) a request for information from West Virginia's Office of the State Auditor, Securities Commission (the "West Virginia Securities Commissioner") (together, the "Information Requests"). Both Information Requests require the Adviser to produce documents concerning, among other things, any market timing or late trading in the Adviser's sponsored mutual funds. The Adviser responded to the Information Requests and has been cooperating fully with the investigation. On April 11, 2005, a complaint entitled The Attorney General of the State of West Virginia v. AIM Advisors, Inc., et al. ("WVAG Complaint") was filed against the Adviser, Alliance Holding, and various other defendants not affiliated with the Adviser. The WVAG Complaint was filed in the Circuit Court of Marshall County, West Virginia by the Attorney General of the State of West Virginia. The WVAG Complaint makes factual allegations generally similar to those in the Hindo Complaint. On October 19, 2005, the WVAG Complaint was transferred to the Mutual Fund MDL. On August 30, 2005, the deputy commissioner of securities of the West Virginia Securities Commissioner signed a Summary Order to Cease and Desist, and Notice of Right to Hearing addressed to the Adviser and Alliance Holding. The Summary Order claims that the Adviser and Alliance Holding violated the West Virginia Uniform Securities Act, and makes factual allegations generally similar to those in the Commission Order and the NYAG Order. On January 26, 2006, the Adviser, Alliance Holding, and various unaffiliated defendants filed a Petition for Writ of Prohibition and Order Suspending Proceedings in West Virginia state court seeking to vacate the Summary Order and for other relief. The court denied the writ and in September 2006 the Supreme Court of Appeals declined the defendants' petition for appeal. On September 22, 2006, Alliance and Alliance Holding filed an answer and motion to dismiss the Summary Order with the Securities Commissioner. On June 22, 2004, a purported class action complaint entitled Aucoin, et al. v. Alliance Capital Management L.P., et al. ("Aucoin Complaint") was filed against the Adviser, Alliance Holding , Alliance Capital Management Corporation, AXA Financial, Inc., AllianceBernstein Investment Research & Management, Inc., certain current and former directors of the AllianceBernstein Mutual Funds, and unnamed Doe defendants. The Aucoin Complaint names certain of the AllianceBernstein mutual funds as nominal defendants. The Aucoin Complaint was filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York by alleged shareholders of an AllianceBernstein mutual fund. The Aucoin Complaint alleges, among other things, (i) that certain of the defendants improperly authorized the payment of excessive commissions and other fees from fund assets to broker- dealers in exchange for preferential marketing services, (ii) that certain of the defendants misrepresented and omitted from registration statements and other reports material facts concerning such payments, and (iii) that certain defendants caused such conduct as control persons of other defendants. The Aucoin Complaint asserts claims for violation of Sections 34(b), 36(b) and 48(a) of the Investment Company Act, Sections 206 and 215 of the Advisers Act, breach of common law fiduciary duties, and aiding and abetting breaches of common law fiduciary duties. Plaintiffs seek an unspecified amount of compensatory damages and puni- tive damages, rescission of their contracts with the Adviser, including recovery of all fees paid to the Adviser pursuant to such contracts, an accounting of all fundrelated fees, commissions and soft dollar payments, and restitution of all unlawfully or discriminatorily obtained fees and expenses. Since June 22, 2004, nine additional lawsuits making factual allegations substantially similar to those in the Aucoin Complaint were filed against the Adviser and certain other defendants. All nine of the lawsuits (i) were brought as class actions filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, (ii) assert claims substantially identical to the Aucoin Complaint, and (iii) are brought on behalf of shareholders of the Funds. On February 2, 2005, plaintiffs filed a consolidated amended class action complaint ("Aucoin Consolidated Amended Complaint") that asserts claims substantially similar to the Aucoin Complaint and the nine additional lawsuits referenced above. On October 19, 2005, the District Court dismissed each of the claims set forth in the Aucoin Consolidated Amended Complaint, except for plaintiffs' claim under Section 36(b) of the Investment Company Act. On January 11, 2006, the District Court granted defendants' motion for reconsideration and dismissed the remaining Section 36(b) claim. On May 31, 2006 the District Court denied plaintiffs' motion for leave to file an amended complaint. On July 5, 2006, plaintiffs filed a notice of appeal. On October 4, 2006 the appeal was withdrawn by stipulation, with plaintiffs reserving the right to reinstate it at a later date. It is possible that these matters and/or other developments resulting from these matters could result in increased redemptions of the AllianceBernstein Mutual Funds' shares or other adverse consequences to the AllianceBernstein Mutual Funds. This may require the AllianceBernstein Mutual Funds to sell investments held by those funds to provide for sufficient liquidity and could also have an adverse effect on the investment performance of the AllianceBernstein Mutual Funds. However, the Adviser believes that these matters are not likely to have a material adverse effect on its ability to perform advisory services relating to the AllianceBernstein Mutual Funds. -----END PRIVACY-ENHANCED MESSAGE-----