Kenneth Corbin

The board approved a rule proposal that would impose new limits on financial advisors' ability to remove information about customer disputes from BrokerCheck.

FSI President and CEO Dale Brown would rather see a consultative approach from the regulators on minor missteps, or what he calls the "administrative foot faults."

Advisors can no longer expect to hire only seasoned, mid-career professionals with an established book of business, industry experts say.

Both regulators have identified rollovers as a priority for their 2014 examinations, putting brokers and advisors on notice that they plan to scrutinize how they are working with clients who are planning for retirement.

As waves of baby boomers head into retirement, state and federal regulators expect to take a hard look at the programs firms have in place to ensure they are selling elderly investors appropriate financial instruments.

If the graying financial services industry is to replenish the ranks of retiring advisors and brokers, firms and trade groups must take a more active role in promoting the field to millennials, says Pershing's Mark Tibergien.

As the Financial Services Institute marks its tenth anniversary, the trade group is focused on expanding its advisor membership and ramping up its advocacy on legislation and regulation at the state level.

The FPA and other organizations calling for stricter regulatory oversight of investment advisors reacted with dismay to the omnibus federal spending bill unveiled this week, which they say will leave the SEC unable to effectively police the industry and protect investors.

The SEC is putting advisors on notice that its examiners will cast a wide net in their reviews of investment advisors over the coming year.

Lawmakers this week called on FINRA to explain its policies for expunging investor complaints about brokers from the public record, suggesting that the industry regulator should revisit the extent to which information is removed from the BrokerCheck database.

Investment advisors will play a critical role in helping the nearly 80 million baby boomers and future generations develop a sustainable plan for retirement, a pair of senators said on Wednesday.

Even as the SEC is contemplating an expansion of fiduciary rules to include broker-dealers who operate in the retail space, some advocates argue that the regulatory interpretation of the responsibilities under a fiduciary standard has strayed from common-law precedent and become dangerously diluted.

An SEC advisory committee on Friday recommended that the commission appeal to Congress for authority to collect user fees from advisors to enhance its oversight of the RIA sector and enact rules to tighten regulation of broker-dealers.

The toughest conversations that advisors need to have with their clients have nothing to do with investment strategies.

Activities unfolding within 3 separate industry rulemakers -- the SEC, FINRA and the Labor Department -- suggest changes ahead for both brokers and advisors.

The use of social media within an advisory practice has been the subject of much debate within the industry, but one of the most common arguments for advisors limiting or altogether barring sites like Facebook and YouTube within the firm -- compliance -- might be dramatically overstated.

New registrants with the SEC or veteran advisors who haven't been examined in many years can expect to hear from regulators in short order, a prominent securities lawyer told attendees at Schwab Impact conference.

Despite a recent show of political opposition, the Labor Department seems poised to press ahead with a proposal to broaden the definition of fiduciary to cover advisors working in the retirement plan segment, a leading opponent of the measure warns.

State securities regulators have been ramping up examinations of investment advisors in the aftermath of the Dodd-Frank Act, which required more than 2,000 midsized advisors who had been overseen by the feds to register with state authorities.

Some advisors worry that the new rules could inspire an irrational enthusiasm.