Portfolio

Morgan Stanley Smith Barney’s battle with Merrill Lynch is heating up as both firms sweeten their recruitment packages.

This year's stock market volatility has caught some investors off guard, causing them to pull money out of international mutual funds.

WASHINGTON — Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd Wednesday endorsed a proposal to force banks to spin off their derivatives desks, saying Sen. Blanche Lincoln's primary win this week had increased odds some form of it would be in the final regulatory reform bill.

New tool aims to give broker-dealers and their advisors clarity over fees.

Aiming to strengthen its specialty public finance business, Minneapolis-based Piper Jaffray & Co. continues to expand its coverage with four new hires and two new offices.

Dealers are calling for the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board to revise and clarify several aspects of draft interpretive guidance that outlines the steps they must take to ensure the prices they charge customers when buying and selling municipal securities are fair and reasonable.

Municipal issuers are overreacting to recent developments surrounding the compliance program for Build America Bonds, a Treasury official said yesterday in an effort to tamp down ongoing concerns.

Boston Private Financial Holdings Inc. announced Tuesday Clayton G. Deutsch will succeed Timothy L. Vaill as chief executive officer and president on July 31.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is preparing a concept release on proxy firms and their OBO/NOBO (“non-objecting beneficial owners”) systems, Chairman Mary Schapiro recently told the Business Roundtable. The SEC aims to revise the proxy access rule by 2011.

The battle between Morgan Stanley Smith Barney and Merrill Lynch is heating up as both firms sweeten their recruitment packages, recruiters say.