Practice

Mary Schapiro, Chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, canceled a vote on a proposal to tighten money-market fund rules amid opposition from fellow commissioners and a lobbying campaign by fund companies.

The SEC rolled out its first whistle-blower award on Tuesday, a $50,000 payment to an anonymous informant who helped bring down a Ponzi scheme. So far, the government has recovered $150,000.

A dozen luminaries of the financial world, including former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker, have signed a petition calling on lawmakers and regulatory authorities to expand the scope of fiduciary responsibilities to encompass more segments of the investment advisory industry.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said today in a biannual analysis that the shortfall will be about $100 billion narrower than it had projected in March. The deficit would be less than last year's $1.3 trillion, in part because tax revenue has risen by almost 6 percent and spending is down by about 1 percent this year.

A new online company, FutureAdvisor, aims to break open the market for sophisticated financial advice and make that service available not only to the wealthy, but to all investors. Launched in 2010, the Seattle-based startup says it already analyzes $4 billion in assets for its users and, today, it announced $5 million in new venture capital funding. …

LPL is determined to help advisors up their games in order to be able to serve clients who are generating new wealth or coming into possession of it.

How do your clients refer you? Steve Wershing, "The Referral Doctor," says the answer can help you attract significantly more. And one simple question can teach you a lot about providing your clients the motivation to refer.

Steve Atkinson, "The Advisors' Coach," says investing in people, entrepreneurship and improved corporate efficiencies is a far cry from gambling and it's important that advisors and their clients appreciate the difference.

The measure of success for Christopher Donahue's defense? That the SEC so far this year has not sought a showdown on reform.

For roughly 40 years, the SEC has clashed in a "regulatory tug-of-war" with Congress over regulation of borrowers of conduit bonds, which historically have higher default rates than traditional munis, said Paul Maco, a lawyer at Bracewell & Giuliani LLP.