Regulation

The Securities and Exchange Commission needs to undertake a “comprehensive, independent, zero-based regulatory review” of a broad range of market structure issues before “piecemeal changes to the current market structure” exacerbate potential execution unfairness and make matters worse, says U.S. Sen. Edward E. Kaufman (D-Del.).

QVC officials have reportedly finished their investigation into whether 200 employees falsified documents to try to take hardship withdrawals from their 401(k)s.

While most asset managers have survived the global financial crisis, they still face many uncertainties: internal cost pressures, changes in products, heightened investor demands, headcount reductions, fund closures and tighter regulatory scrutiny.

With a little cooperation, 403(b) retirement plans for educational and governmental workers can move even closer to resembling their 401(k) counterparts, become more streamlined and boost participation, but first, industry participants will need to agree on best practices for the plans that will help everyone speak the same language.

The commissioners and staff at the Securities and Exchange Commission have been working around the clock, looking for ways to refine and improve regulations in the aftermath of one of the worst recessions in history, but this important work takes a delicate touch. Changes to one area could have unexpected ramifications to other areas, and every move must be planned with care and consideration.

Seventy-three percent of Baby Boomers who own a traditional IRA are not planning to convert it to a Roth IRA in 2010, when the previous household income limit of $100,000 will be eliminated, USAA Wealth Management found in a survey. Any investor who converts in 2010 will have two years to pay the taxes.

Political support for the Obama administration's regulatory reform plan is faltering, leaving many to question the Treasury Department's strategy for enactment.

Fidelity Investments has joined the growing chorus of fund companies, brokerages and regulators warning investors about potential outsized losses in leveraged exchange-traded funds due to the effect of compounding.

The recent drop in financial markets has rekindled the demand for safer, conservative financial products like stable-value funds.

The Alternative Investment Management Association is siding with the U.K. on more lenient rules for hedge funds, private equity and other alternative investments, warning that the proposed regulations in the Alternative Investment Funds Directive “would hit fund managers and investors around the world” by making it difficult for them to access the European Union market.