Kenneth Corbin

A measure that would put the brakes on the Department of Labor's proposal to establish a fiduciary standard for advisors to retirement plans was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives in a largely party-line vote on Tuesday.

Lawmakers are set to begin debate today on a bill that would delay, perhaps indefinitely, a proposal by the Department of Labor to impose a fiduciary standard on advisors to retirement plans.

A renewed federal emphasis on financial literacy education could have an ancillary payoff for the financial planning profession: more new planners.

The SEC says it has reached a settlement with a Nebraska investment advisory firm charged with breach of fiduciary duty involving three funds it managed over the course of the previous decade.

FINRA is pressing ahead with a controversial new rule that would require brokers to make disclosures about recruitment compensation they receive as an enticement to jump to a new firm.

In a crowded market like financial services, the truly successful professionals are those advisors who can cultivate a fiercely loyal, devoted client base, says advisor marketing guru Maribeth Kuzmeski.

There are few marketing issues in the advisor sector that in recent years have inspired more interest -- and uncertainty -- than the use of social media in the practice.

The Department of Labor is pushing back its timeframe for releasing a highly anticipated proposal for expanding fiduciary responsibilities for advisors who work with retirement plans.

The organization is planning a new, broadly accessible online program now being developed in partnership with the University of Illinois.

Forthcoming federal rules could require all investment advisors to implement formal anti-money laundering programs -- a shift that would bring RIAs under a similar regulatory regime as that governing broker-dealers, mutual fund complexes and other financial institutions.

If federal regulators move ahead with a plan to impose a uniform fiduciary standard of care on investment advisors and broker-dealers, financial professionals anticipate that the cost of doing business will increase, with a result of higher client fees and more limited services, according to a new survey.

The House Financial Services Committee on Wednesday approved a slew of bills that would slow the pace of regulatory proceedings to expand advisors' fiduciary responsibilities and relax registration requirements, among other measures.

The Securities and Exchange Commission would like to hear from advisors. That was the resounding message of a speech delivered Tuesday by Norm Champ, the director of the SEC's Division of Investment Management, the unit of the commission that oversees federally registered investment advisors.

When the Department of Labor produces its controversial proposal to extend fiduciary responsibilities to certain advisors to retirement plans later this year, the plan will come with a robust economic analysis making the case for new regulations, along with targeted exemptions to the rules, the senior official who is leading the effort said on Tuesday.

In a keynote address kicking off the Insured Retirement Institute's Government, Legal and Regulatory conference, Atkins, now the CEO of Patomak Global Partners, offered a round critique of the Dodd-Frank Act and the myriad rulemaking proceedings that it set in motion.

A broad coalition of advocacy groups is calling for the SEC to press ahead with an expansion of a fiduciary standard to hold broker-dealers to identical standards of care for retail client that are already imposed on investment advisors.

The Securities and Exchange Commission issued its long-anticipated proposal for reforms to stabilize money market mutual funds and protect investors from the type of run that brought the sector to the brink of collapse at the height of the financial crisis in 2008.

A House subcommittee Thursday looked at draft bills that would slow down the progress that the SEC is making toward implementation of a new, uniform fiduciary standard for broker-dealers and investment advisors.

SEC Chair Mary Jo White defended the agency's request for a significant budget increase before a House oversight committee, arguing that the additional funding is necessary to equip the SEC with the resources to handle a litany of regulatory tasks, including increased examinations of investment advisors and enforcement actions.

A new study attempts to quantify the very real effect that low interest rates and muted yields in certain asset classes could have on investors' retirement planning.