Practice

The Securities and Exchange Commission has issued an Investor Bulletin to help purchasers of municipal bonds better assess the bonds’ credit risks.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has ordered five firms to pay $4.48 million for unfairly using bond proceeds to pay reimburse themselves for membership fees they paid to the California Public Securities Association, a lobbying group.

The Investment Company Institute and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce today filed a notice of appeal of a recent ruling by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia upholding the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s rule requiring mutual funds with commodities investments to register with the agency.

Trades were placed one to two days after the orders arrived by fax or mail, causing some customers to get inferior prices from late 2003 until June 2011, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority said in a statement.

Base salaries for hedge fund and mutual fund managers are projected to increase 3.5% and incentive pay is projected to rise by 0-10% from 2011 to 2012, according to a new study from Greenwich Associates and Johnson Associates.

Wealthy Americans say growing the economy matters more in the coming year than slashing federal spending.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has ordered Pruco Securities, a securities broker-dealer owned by Prudential Financial, to pay more than $10.7 million to customers who placed mutual fund orders via facsimile or mail and received an inferior price for their shares.

Defined contribution plan sponsors were hit with a number of initiatives this year including fulfilling the Department of Labor’s fee requirements and weighing the pros and cons of retirement income products.

Eagle Asset Management today announced that it has completed the purchase of a 45% ownership stake in San Diego-based ClariVest Asset Management.

“While many firms are definitely taking note of the importance of women today, they still don’t quite know how to approach women in a meaningful way,” says Teresa Dentino, founder and CEO of financial education firm The Financial 411.