SEC

The research giant says it aims to lower costs by removing a layer of fees paid to third-party managers.

The SEC decision ended a months-long rally that pushed the virtual money’s value higher than gold.

Even in the present deregulatory climate, the Treasury Department is pressing ahead with a rule to require advisors to screen for and report suspicious activity.

"The number of enforcement cases is likely to be down considerably going forward," said Urska Velikonja, a law professor at Emory University.

The acting head of OCIE says the commission has abandoned "wide, full-scope" scrutiny in favor of more targeted, risk-based reviews.

The wirehouse has already paid $415 million in fines and disgorged profits in a settlement.

Hope is dimming, but top Democrats like Sen. Elizabeth Warren and investor advocates are unlikely to relent in their efforts to preserve the regulation.

"To me, that rule, it was about one thing and it was about enabling trial lawyers to increase profits,” acting Chairman Michael Piwowar says.

Caution to advisers: If you cop a deal with the SEC for leniency, be sure to hold up your end of the bargain.

Too often, the agency overlooks the true impact of its policies, according to commission's investor advocate.

The deputy director of the agency's examinations unit, however, cautions that any such effort must be carefully coordinated.

The latest developments make columnist Bob Veres wonder whether he has fallen through a wormhole.

Acting Chairman Michael Piwowar calls accredited investor threshold an "artificial distinction" that perversely can hurt the smaller investors it's designed to protect.

Embracing fiduciary standards, managing client risk and integrating technology are essential steps for every RIA to undertake.

“It starts out small,” the advisor told his compliance officer, authorities say. “You think you are going to pay it back.”

In a nod that digital advice is here to stay, the agency updates its directions on how to ensure compliance, along with tips for evaluating the growing number of services.

Even a well-intentioned compliance manual can draw the ire of regulators.

The SEC released a letter outlining where the most common deficiencies occur.

In spite of its own compliance policies, the firm failed to get several hundred clients to sign a disclosure notice that described risks associated with inverse ETFs.

SEC staff recommended this solution as far back as 2011.