Practice

For the second year in a row, enforcement actions set a record, jumping 21% last year, to 2,724, an increase industry representatives attributed to a persistently heightened focus on capital and safety and soundness standards in the wake of the financial crisis.

"We're no closer to an end game than we were before the report," one panelist said Thursday. "Maybe even further away."

Having attended hundreds of practice management and motivational sessions at various conferences over the years, it has become clear to me that most of our roadblocks to business and personal success are (get ready to wince) self-created.

With regulatory reform bringing a wave of changes to defined contribution plans, advisers need to be even more conversant in the ins and outs of legislative requirements and other complexities. Which is why BlackRock is beefing up its commitment to advisors who work with these retirement plans.

A former broker for RBC Capital Markets is set to pay $1.7 million to RBC Capital Markets and his request for $37.8 million in compensatory damages has been denied.

House panel members on Wednesday opposed federal bailouts for municipal governments and were reluctant to provide states with bankruptcy protection, but they seemed to support requiring improved public pension fund disclosure.

Although saving for retirement is critical for women - they live longer and make less money than men - women save 40% less than men, according to a new research study by LIMRA.

With regulatory reform bringing a wave of changes to defined contribution plans, advisors need to be even more conversant in the ins and outs of legislative requirements and other complexities. Which is why BlackRock is beefing up its commitment to advisors who work with these retirement plans.

Advisors and regulators expect one rather odd twist for college savings plans.

New survey finds that small business owners are more optimistic about their economic future than they've been since early 2004.