Practice

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has issued draft guidance warning broker’s brokers of their obligations under its rules following recent enforcement actions by the Securities Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority alleging rule violations.

The Financial Services Authority said Thursday it fined Goldman Sachs $31 million for failing to notify the U.K. regulator that trader Fabrice Tourre was being investigated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Morgan Stanley Smith Barney announced Thursday it hired Lisa Cregan, a former UBS manager, to run its brokerage offices in Houston.

SEC Chairman notes there have been net redemptions from equity mutual funds every single week for the past four months.

Even though 80% of Americans aged 44 to 75 said they would choose a product with a 4% return and a guarantee against losing its value, over a fund aiming for an 8% return but subject to market risk—54% said they would not select an annuity.

Thanks to record low Aa corporate discount bond rates and declines in domestic and international stocks, U.S. corporate pension plans saw their funding status dip more than 5.6% to 71.3% in August, BNY Mellon Asset Management said.

Vanguard launched an online service that allows individuals to compare income annuities from different insurance companies.

Less than a third of investors are aware of a closing loophole that could allow them to convert a Roth IRA into a traditional IRA.

Besides ensuring orderly pricing in equity markets, outflows from stock mutual funds that have occurred every single week in the four months since the May 6 Flash Crash, for estimated redemptions totaling more than $50 billion, are causing grave concerns at the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Whether you were in the U.S., Canada or Europe during the financial meltdown, the economic effects were felt by every investor class, which in turn, is now forcing many to find alternative means to curb risk and diversify their investment portfolios.