Regulation

Southwest Securities Inc. has agreed to pay $470,147 to settle charges with the Securities and Exchange Commission for violating an anti-pay-to-play rule by co-underwriting Massachusetts bond deals within two years after its former senior vice president made political contributions to state Treasurer Timothy Cahill.

Timing of Senate Action Is Unclear

President Obama's successful fight to pass health-care reform has given a bill to revamp the financial system a dramatic boost, lawmakers from both parties said Wednesday.

Pending hedge fund regulations in the European Union are “protectionist [and] discriminate against U.S. firms and activities,” Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a letter to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

With nearly half of America’s workforce, 78 million people, without a retirement plan, Prudential is advocating that Congress pass a law to include automatic IRAs and multiple small employer plans in the Pension Protection Act of 2006.

Charles Schwab filed arguments in federal court in San Francisco on March 19 to try to preclude the Securities and Exchange Commission from suing it over its YieldPlus fund, which had nearly 50% of its assets in mortgage-backed securities.

Hard as it is to defend the Byzantine nature of U.S. bank supervision, it's at least as hard to find a model guaranteed to provide a better defense against financial crises.

Hedge funds in Europe have begun embracing the UCITS III structure to sell their portfolios to a wider base of retail investors and rebuild trust, but shareholder interest groups warn this may be a vast mistake. Transparency of complex structures still does not make an investor well-informed or an investment suitable, they argue.

Market observers say that Obama’s healthcare plan as it now stands creates 30 million new consumers without reining in costs.

Tampa broker-dealer had been facing problems for months.