Compliance

The firms have been sanctioned by the SEC for violating the custody rule that requires them to meet certain standards when maintaining custody of their clients’ funds or securities.

Lawmakers are set to begin debate today on a bill that would delay, perhaps indefinitely, a proposal by the Department of Labor to impose a fiduciary standard on advisors to retirement plans.

Sendhil Mullainathan, the former head of research at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, speaks in an interview about when it's appropriate, and when it's not, for the government to try to influence consumer behavior.

The SEC is conducting nationwide, "limited scope examinations" of certain mutual funds that invest in Puerto Rico securities, according to a document obtained by The Bond Buyer and knowledgeable sources.

JPMorgan, under siege on multiple fronts by state and federal prosecutors investigating alleged wrongdoing at the largest U.S. bank, is in talks with federal prosecutors in New York to resolve allegations it helped facilitate Bernard Madoff’s crimes.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has voted unanimously to propose rules under the JOBS Act allowing companies to offer and sell securities through crowdfunding.

A renewed federal emphasis on financial literacy education could have an ancillary payoff for the financial planning profession: more new planners.

A former UBS AG banker surrendered to U.S. authorities to face a 2011 indictment that he conspired to help wealthy Americans evade taxes by hiding accounts in a smaller Swiss regional bank.

Three investment advisory firms have been sanctioned by the SEC for repeatedly ignoring problems with their compliance programs.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission voted unanimously to seek comment on a proposal to allow businesses to sell ownership stakes in their companies by soliciting investors over the Internet.

A former Merrill Lynch broker has been ordered to serve 38 months for allegedly bilking clients of almost $2 million.

Citing concerns, FINRA says it may make it harder for advisors to get records cleared.

CEO Jamie Dimon went to Washington almost a month ago to see if U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder would settle a criminal probe of mortgage fraud at the bank if it paid more money to resolve related civil investigations.

The CFP Board “cannot justifiably act as both a regulator for continuing education providers and as a CE provider themselves,” FPA president Michael Branham said to a burst of applause Sunday at the general session of the association’s annual conference.

Raoul Weil, the fugitive former head of UBS AG’s global wealth management business, was arrested in Bologna after checking into a hotel under his own name and triggering an alert to Italy’s authorities.

The SEC was handed a high-profile loss in a low-stakes case. A federal jury in Dallas yesterday rejected SEC claims that Cuban engaged in insider trading when he sold his stake in a Canadian Internet company nine years ago to avoid a $750,000 loss.

Fraud against the elderly is expected to rise as the nation's baby boomers near retirement. Bankers and regulators are keen on trying to get ahead of the issue.

FINRA set guidelines for the first time for how banks in the U.S. should perform due diligence on brokers who sell their structured notes.

The passage last night by wide margins -- an 81-18 vote in the Democratic-led Senate, followed by a 285-144 vote in the Republican-controlled House -- allows the U.S. to avoid default and ends the shutdown that began Oct. 1 and has taken $24 billion out of the U.S. economy.

Stockbrokers routinely succeeded in erasing settlements of customer complaints from their regulatory records in the wake of 2008’s market turmoil, making it harder for investors to research the money managers, a group of plaintiffs lawyers said.