Regulation

Nearly 1,200 banks have been hit with an enforcement action made public by federal regulators since the start of 2008, and that number is expected to climb at an accelerated rate.

WASHINGTON — Though the Dodd-Frank regulatory reform law designed separate rules for large and small institutions, covering everything from capital to stress tests to consumer protection, a consensus is growing that the higher standards for bigger institutions will eventually apply to everyone else.

Merrill Lynch agreed Wednesday to pay $728,260 in civil penalties for allowing unregistered client associates to sell securities in states where they were not permitted to do business, said New Jersey’s Attorney General Paula Dow. Client associates serve as sales assistant to one or more financial advisors.

Merrill Lynch is set to pay New Jersey $728,260 in civil penalties and change its business practices to be in compliance with state law.

The head of the BlackRock product team for exchange-traded funds is urging the SEC and CFTC to establish circuit breakers across all exchanges that were uniform for both stocks and ETFs.

The proposal, which would only apply to banks supervised by the agency, said institutions should give customers the chance to opt out of overdraft programs for their checking accounts and any automated clearing house transfers, as well as monitor overdraft usage to avoid unfair consumer fees.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is looking at such mechanisms as price collars and limits on upward or downward movements in a stock in a single day, in the wake of the May 6th "flash crash."

An overreliance on computer systems and high-frequency trading are seen by financial advisors as the primary drivers of the sharpest single-day point decline in Dow Jones history, according to a survey commissioned by the iShares Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) business, conducted by Market Strategies International and released by BlackRock, the investment advisory firm.

Congressman Richard Neal, D-Mass., has introduced legislation that would allow companies to set up automatic payroll deposit Individual Retirement Accounts, or Auto IRAs, for workers who do not have access to employer-provided qualified pension plans.

Since the beginning of the year, Wall Street firms, trade associations, and municipal bond issuers have significantly stepped up their lobbying efforts to get lawmakers to extend the Build America Bonds program before it expires at the end of December.