Practice

Four years after it began charging risk-based premiums, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is set to revamp them again for the largest institutions.

With 266 million users in North America, the Internet and social media have become a significant part of the financial services landscape.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch introduced a gauge of risk, hedging demand and investment flows, the bank and brokerage firm said, "is designed to help investors identify market risks earlier and more accurately than commonly used risk indicators," such as the Chicago Board Options Exchange Market Volatility Index, or VIX.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration on Monday proposed disclosures on target-date funds offered in 401(k) plans.

AllianceBernstein has partnered with three leading insurers—AXA Equitable, Lincoln Financial Group and Nationwide Financial—to provide guaranteed income for target-date funds in large 401(k) plans.

Retirees will be rolling over $303 billion a year over the next few years, according to Pershing, and with this tremendous opportunity at hand, the company has issued a report for financial advisers called, “The Secret Knock: Unlocking the Retirement Opportunity.”

The Securities and Exchange Commission, Federal Bureau of Investigation and the office of Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara are readying insider-trading charges against numerous financial professionals.

A principal aim of the impending cost basis reporting law is to enable the IRS to capture lost tax revenues due to inaccurate or underreported filings. Brokers and custodians are now scrambling to ensure their accounting systems will be compliant with the regulations, expected to take effect Jan. 1, 2011. However, the law will impact firms in other ways they may not yet realize.

Investigation might redefine insider trading.

In an era of low interest rates, weak loan demand and unprecedented efforts by the Federal Reserve Board to pump liquidity into the economy, the demand for Federal Home Loan Bank advances has plummeted to a 10-year low, raising questions about the system's future as the government weighs a redesign of the housing finance sector.