Washington ? Federal regulators on Wednesday tentatively adopted new after-hour trading rules to curb an illegal trading practice that brings profits to a favored few shareholders.

The Securities and Exchange Commission voted 5-0 to propose a “hard cutoff” of 3 p.m. Central time for pricing of fund shares. The new rules are part of a planned overhaul of the way the $7 trillion mutual fund industry operates.

The after-hours trading proposal will be open for public comment for 60 days.

SEC Chairman William Donaldson said the proposed changes “will go a long way toward restoring investor confidence in these important investment vehicles.”

Under the rules, mutual funds rather than third parties would have to receive trading orders by 3 p.m., before the funds price their shares for the day. So the order must be in by then for the investor to receive that day’s price.

The rules could be formally adopted by the SEC after the commission gathers public comment.