Regulation

For those in the business of providing investment advice, the situation in the nation's capital is getting serious. With Washington gridlocked and steeped in uncertainty over a series of tax cuts set to expire at the end of the year, members of the Senate Finance Committee and House Ways and Means Committee met for a joint session to consider a critical and contentious facet of the tax code: capital gains.

Tim Pawlenty, the former Republican governor of Minnesota who criticized Wall Street while running for president last year, is joining the Financial Services Roundtable as president and chief executive officer.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has ordered five firms to pay $137,500 in fines for violations of trade reporting and other municipal securities rules.

The agency is targeting Summit Wealth Management, a registered investment advisor, and Angelo Alleca, who is charged with defrauding investors in what the SEC describes as a scheme that sought to conceal losses from trades that went bad through the creation of new private funds that were used to repay the original investors.

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday charged a Chicago-based investment advisory firm with misleading investors in connection with a pair of private-equity offerings.

William Steward, a former accountant in product control for UBS AG, said he began looking into trades by Kweku Adoboli in August 2011 after receiving a report of a $3.57 billion discrepancy.

The New York investment bank has filed a request with FINRA to withdraw from the brokerage business, after being fined for breaking 'information barriers.' Its parent company said it will still try to commercialize its DIrect Markets technology.

A Florida federal court rejected Merrill Lynch's petition to vacate an arbitration decision on Monday, clearing the way for two financial advisors to receive a $10.25 million awarded to them in April.

The FDIC is trying to help bankers prep for exams and more clearly understand the results as part of a broader effort at improving relations, Martin Gruenberg, the agency's acting Chairman, said.

Deutsche Bank has unveiled its growth strategy for the next three years and beyond for its U.S. mutual funds unit, known as DWS, and other businesses.