The chairman and several directors accused of supervising an investor-education fund overseen by the Securities and Exchange Commission have disclosed they plan to resign, according to people familiar with the matter.

The $55 million foundation, created as part of the $1.4 billion settlement in April 2003 of charges that 10 major Wall Street firms issued biased stock research to win investment-banking business, has been beset by disputes over both its mission and its management style, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The planned retirement of fund chairman Charles Ellis, a longtime Wall Street consultant and acknowledged investment authority, will disappoint SEC Chairman William Donaldson who chose Mr. Ellis for the job.

Mr. Ellis made decision to retire this week after he found out that most of the fund’s other directors planned to resign, people familiar with the situation said. He indicated the plans in a note released to members of two advisory panels.

"With real sadness, because we all recognize that the mission of helping individual investors be more successful ... is so important, the Directors of Investors Education are all resigning," Mr. Ellis wrote. "We sincerely hope that with a new organization structure, a new team working effectively with the SEC can make real progress."