Kenneth Corbin

The head of the House Financial Services Committee is renewing his call to act on legislation to increase oversight of investment advisors, a bipartisan bill that stalled in the committee last month.

The Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards has unveiled a new framework for its disciplinary arm to follow when taking action against a member, the first such standards the certification group has issued in its history.

As sharp lines have emerged within a prominent House committee over how to step up examinations of investment advisers, the panel's chairman has signaled that no legislation will advance without broad, bipartisan consensus.

House Democrats on Wednesday introduced legislation that would expand the role of the SEC to conduct oversight examinations of investment advisors, a segment of the financial services sector that lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have agreed is under regulated.

As Congress and the White House head toward another battle over extending the Bush-era tax cuts, a trade association representing utility companies is warning that investors could be in for a major hit if the rates for qualified dividends revert to their pre-2003 levels, even if the only rates that move are those for the wealthiest Americans.

The head of the Financial Services Institute has delivered a pointed letter to House committee leaders criticizing the efforts of the Department of Labor in developing a new definition of the term "fiduciary" that would cover financial professionals providing advice to retirement plans.

As financial professionals grapple with a new regulatory mandate for the suitability of investment advice, a leading industry advocacy group is continuing its opposition to two key provisions of the new rules from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) that took effect Monday.

As the debate over regulatory reforms in the RIA sector has resurfaced on Capitol Hill, industry groups on both sides of the issue are making their case to lawmakers and staffers in the hopes of either advancing or derailing legislation that would establish a self-regulatory organization to oversee RIAs.

In testimony before members of a House committee on Wednesday, Richard Ketchum, the chairman and CEO of FINRA, offered an enthusiastic endorsement of a legislative proposal to establish a self-regulatory organization to oversee RIAs.

"I would first like to fully fund the SEC," Barney Frank (D-Mass.), the ranking member of the Financial Services Committee, said at a hearing this morning considering the Bachus bill. "The very fact that we're considering an SRO argues strongly against the inadequate funding this Congress has given the SEC."

As lawmakers take up legislation that would reshape the regulatory landscape for retail investment advisers, industry groups are poised to present sharply contrasting visions for where expanded oversight authority should be housed.

Lobbying over the contentious issue of regulatory oversight of investment advisors will likely continue deep into the next session of Congress, with some advocacy groups working to scuttle the measure altogether in an election-shortened legislative calendar.

With new cost-basis reporting requirements in effect for the 2011 tax year, Charles Schwab is warning investment advisors to brace for a hectic tax season and prepare for a flood of questions from clients who for the first time will receive a revised 1099-B form packed with new transaction information.

Leaders of the Financial Services Institute expressed cautious optimism about their efforts to dilute or derail an initiative under way at the Department of Labor to broaden the scope of the term "fiduciary," a top policy priority for the advocacy organization.

More than a third of high-net-worth individuals don't have confidence in their beneficiaries to handle their inheritance responsibly, according to a new study by Barclays Wealth.

CLS Investments, a leading independent third-party money manager, is preaching the gospel of engaging with investors on new platforms ranging from apps for tablet computers and smartphones to online video commentaries and social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan urged a special advisory council to dig deep as it crafts recommendations for improving Americans' financial literacy though education and training programs, arguing that personal finance should be integrated early into the curriculum as a core subject.

On the heels of the Financial Planning Standards Board's semi-annual meeting in Washington, D.C., top leaders of the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards offered an update on the group's agenda, which remains dominated by policy advocacy and an ambitious public awareness campaign.

Social media evangelists argue that the popularity of the new medium reflects a profound shift in the way investors scout for financial advice, making online social channels too important for advisors to ignore.

While many investors and wealth managers continue to operate under the assumption that, sooner or later, order will be restored and things will go back to the way they were before the 2008 financial meltdown, some pundits are warning that's not going to happen and everyone better adapt to the new rules of the investment game.