Practice

There is an extra wrinkle of complexity this year as the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts are set to expire at the end of the year. Many members of Congress have expressed support for extending these tax cuts to some, if not all, taxpayers either temporarily or permanently. Without Congressional action, tax rates will rise to as high as 39.6% on ordinary income and 20% on capital gains.

Industry groups are urging the Securities and Exchange Commission to reject a proposal from the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board to provide it with an additional $17 million in revenue annually by nearly doubling the amount of transaction fees it collects from dealers.

Nearly half of the nation's chief financial officers and senior controllers polled by global CPA and business advisory firm Grant Thornton say that the U.S. should not adopt international Financial Reporting Standards until after U.S. GAAP and IFRS have converged to the point where the differences are inconsequential - a time frame of between five to seven years.

Though the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has jurisdiction over a wide range of financial products, Elizabeth Warren is making credit cards her top priority.

Regardless of the size of the investor, it seems that timely communication can save a relationship, or at least stall its demise.

Sen. Christopher Dodd said the work is far from done in terms of regulatory reform.

Roth IRA conversions have spiked at Bank of America in the past year

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority said it fined Goldman, Sachs & Co. $650,000 for failing to disclose that two of its registered representatives had received Wells Notices, which indicate that investigations of operating practices are under way.

FINRA sanctioned the New York-based company with a $650,000 fine and ordered it to review its procedures and systems and document corrective measures

UBS Wealth Management Americas hired three advisors from Morgan Stanley Smith Barney in its Los Angeles operation.