Regulation

On April 19, 2012, U.S. treasurers say they will sharply reduce their use of money market funds if the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) adopts either a net asset value float, a redemption holdback or capital requirements on the industry, according to a report released by the Investment Company Institute.

New regulatory rules could lift or weigh down the wealth management industry as it works to mend its relationship with consumers following the financial crisis, according to executives speaking at the SIFMA Private Client Conference.

In April 17, 2012, Two industry bodies, the Investment Company Institute and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, filed a suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia challenging the amendment to Rule 4.5 of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission

Non-bank financial companies, including mutual fund operators, should get ready to find out whether they will be designated a "systemically important financial institution," aka, SIFI, now that the Financial Stability Oversight Council released final rules on April 3, according to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

The SEC charged four executives of what is now a Charles Schwab Corp. subsidiary as well as one customer with selling billions of dollars worth of securities they could not deliver.

After a long, winding legal road, involving no fewer than six federal court decisions, Ameriprise Financial finally won a suit alleging that it had charged excessively high advisor fees.

The 2008-2009 financial crisis that rocked worldwide markets was amplified by the lack of a sufficient regulatory framework, including checks on the largest broker-dealer firms, Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke said Friday.

The Financial Services Institute has expanded its agenda to include retirement and tax issues. As part of the expansion, the independent broker-dealer advocacy group has hired Robert Lewis as government affairs counsel for tax and retirement.

On April 16, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged the former chief financial officer of optionsXpress and three other officials of the online options and futures brokerage of engaging in “an abusive naked short selling scheme’’ involving billions of dollars of sham trades.

Does a U.S. Supreme Court ruling based on the Anna Nicole Smith case prevent a bankruptcy court from resolving hundreds of lawsuits brought by the Madoff firm's trustee?