Kenneth Corbin

For all the hype surrounding social media sites as the next great marketing channel for advisors, a panel of industry leaders warned that the jury is still out on what role tools like Facebook and Twitter will ultimately play in financial-services firms.

Legislation that would streamline the registration process for broker-dealers and advisors in Florida is one step closer to becoming law, with the state senate following the lower chamber in voting to approve the measure, which now awaits the governor's signature.

The Goldman Sachs chief is bullish on China, calls proposals for taxes on financial transactions "screwy," and believes that his firm needs to do a better job of repairing its image.

The human side of financial planning has been somewhat overlooked among some advisors who have tended to limit their interactions with clients to providing financial advice. The high-touch approach could become a "growing market niche" for advisors.

Further, echoing a theme from Obama's reelection campaign, Miller pointed to a widening gap between the very wealthy and the rest of the population, noting that the proposed modifications to retirement plan taxes would only affect a fraction of 1% of the country.

FINRA has named a senior Treasury Department official to serve as the group's first chief economist.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has temporarily withdrawn a controversial proposal to require advisors, brokers and firms to incorporate links to the BrokerCheck database when they post content to social media sites.

The ranking Democrat on the House Financial Services Committee is making another push to charge advisors for SEC examinations.

"Once it is released it's going to be attacked. It's already being attacked, even though nobody really knows exactly what the rule will be," Ron Rhoades told reporters during a conference call on Thursday.

Several provisions affecting advisors contained in President Obama’s budget blueprint drew sharp reactions from many corners of the industry, with groups variously praising measures to increase funding for securities regulators and blasting provisions concerning taxes and retirement planning.

A top executive with Fidelity urged congressional action to stave off what he described as "a looming retirement crisis," appealing to lawmakers to pressure the Department of Labor to avoid an expansive redefinition of fiduciary responsibilities for advisors, among other things.

The Financial Services Institute is heralding the advance of legislation in Florida that would significantly ease the registration process for advisors representing firms headquartered in other states.

Want proof that advisors need to be engaging with social media? Consider the SEC’s decision this week to let publicly traded companies make material corporate announcements on sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Massachusetts-based financial advisors could soon have to submit to a criminal background check under a proposed reform to the registration process in that state.

A bipartisan pair of lawmakers introduced legislation that would make it easier for workers to repay loans or withdrawals they take from their employer-sponsored 401(k) plan, drawing praise from a leading trade group representing retirement-plan advisors.

Mary Jo White, President Obama's nominee to chair the SEC, faced little resistance at a Senate confirmation hearing as she said that, if confirmed, she intends to move swiftly to close the book on an array of rules that advisors have been watching closely.

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday called for more information from industry members and other stakeholders about the potential impact of its proposal to apply a uniform fiduciary standard of care to broker-dealers and investment advisors who provide advice to retail customers.

Now that the March 1 deadline for Congress and the White House to reach a deficit-reduction agreement has lapsed, federal agencies must now begin to absorb $85 billion in automatic spending cuts, but for financial advisors, it could be business as usual, at least for the time being.

The SEC plans to take a close look at potential conflicts of interest in the investment-advisor practices that its examiners oversee, and will ramp up scrutiny of the marketing and performance claims of federally registered advisors, according to the examination guidance the agency recently issued for the coming year.

Financial advisors may have breathed a sigh of relief after lawmakers reached a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff, but the next several weeks will bring more debate, and potentially more turmoil, over big-ticket budget items that could dramatically alter the strategies you recommend to clients.