Compliance

A manager of an errant broker finds himself the target of regulators and asks our compliance columnist: What could I have done differently?

In 2015, FINRA slammed offenders with $46.3 million in sanctions for suitability-related infractions, nearly six times the $7.9 million it imposed in 2014.

The service shares the 12 most egregious tax scams of the year.

Few investors receive arbitration awards, PIABA says, while proposing a national recovery pool.

SEC officials warn many advisors and brokers have next to no cybersecurity policies in place, exposing them to data breaches and potential enforcement actions.

The client originally sought $18 million for breach of fiduciary duty and churning among other alleged wrongdoing.

Asset managers that stay on top of regulatory demands not only keep authorities happy, they gain a competitive advantage against other firms, says one fund administration executive.

During the transition in independence, avoid running afoul of legal breaches and other quicksand that can drag you down.

Few independent firms will be unaffected by the change, and if they don’t get cracking, they may "find themselves in a costly and time-consuming game of catch-up," argue Robert Cirotti and Gabriel Garcia of Pershing.

As part of a multi-year initiative, the commission has unearthed numerous deficiencies in how advisors and brokers work with and market to clients planning for retirement.

One impersonated a client, another grabbed client funds via ATM withdrawals and a third stole from a nonprofit, FINRA says.

The industry regulator handed out a lifetime ban, fines and suspensions to three brokers involved in a scheme to pump up the trading price and volume of stock.

Brokers' clients received letters from LPL that implied he stole money, over a $20,000 loan he had repaid, lawyer says.

In the latest in a series of cases, an arbitration panel has sided with a client against UBS, ordering the wirehouse to pay nearly $1.5 million in damages related to UBS' sale of Puerto Rican bonds and closed-end funds.

A third-party examination system might be the most practical response to RIA oversight, but questions remain about how advisors will shoulder the costs.

The argument's underlying reasoning is simple: Vanguard is cheating state and federal tax authorities by charging its customers much less than other fund companies do.

Regulators remain worried about hard-to-sell assets held by high-yield bond funds as they probe whether the failure of the Third Avenue Focused Credit Fund could be repeated, a top SEC official said.

The commission wants to dramatically reshape the regulatory environment for investment advice in waning months of President Obama's administration.

About 75% of what's in the proposal will probably stick, says a leading retirement expert. Here's what advisors can expect.

Mutual funds are vulnerable to runs that can spill over and cause problems in the broader financial system, according to a blog post published today on Liberty Street Economics by staffers at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.