RIAs

Yes and no, experts say. But it's a thorny issue given that many IBD advisors consider themselves fiduciaries and do most of their business through RIAs.

The review is likely to start with broker-dealers and their platforms; It will coincide with a second, more targeted phase of the commission's cybersecurity sweep.

The SEC acknowledges that cybersecurity requirements vary from one practice to the next, but insists that the tone from the top is critical.

Getting to intimately know the business and culture of CapGroup Advisors was key to this week's merger, says Michael Nathanson, chairman and chief executive of Colony Group.

"I live in fear, quite honestly, of FINRA assuming the responsibility of examining investment advisors," a former SEC attorney told advisors at the Investment Adviser Association regulatory and compliance conference.

Advisors who can bring in and work with clients, wealth strategists with tax and accounting expertise and successor CEOs are in greatest demand.

Raymond James & Associates tapped a former Morgan Stanley exec and RIA co-founder as regional director.

Veris Wealth Partners, an RIA specializing in sustainable investing, recruited the advisor, who was managing $500 million as a portfolio manager.

The Institute for the Fiduciary Standard is asking for input from the industry in its effort to help consumers distinguish between fiduciary advisors and "product sellers."

Did you read the most recent SEC funding memo to Congress? Bob Veres did -- and if he had the ear of Mary Jo White, here's what he'd say to her.