Compliance

Our legal expert discusses how to deal with FINRA investigation.

Preparation and communication are key to a smooth visit with FINRA.

At the recent FINRA conference, SEC Commissioner Elisse Walter endorsed advisor "gold standard."

New draft proposal is part of a House movement to reign in the legislation.

Broadridge Financial Solutions has agreed to acquire Bonaire Software Solutions, a provider of fee calculation, billing, and revenue and expense management solutions for asset managers including institutional asset managers, wealth managers, mutual funds, bank trusts, hedge funds and capital markets firms.

Mutual fund companies are facing ongoing challenges in overseeing their financial intermediary relationships as omnibus processing and the reliance on FIs continue to increase, according to a new survey by Boston Financial Data Services.

It looks like Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company will have its day in court come January 2014 to defend itself against a mutual fund lawsuit.

The Senate Finance Committee's top two tax writers asked their 98 colleagues on Thursday to submit detailed proposals justifying which tax breaks should be kept in the code as they move forward on comprehensive tax reform.

OppenheimerFunds, the U.S. investment fund that manages about $208 billion, has sued Doux SA in New York, claiming it’s owed almost $74 million by the French poultry producer placed under administration.

A new FINRA rule aims to make information on brokers’ disciplinary actions more available and searchable.

FINRA has censured Securities America and fined it $100,000 for making inaccurate and misleading statements to clients via emails.

“It's a pretty big issue for us,” said Daniel Sibears, FINRA executive vice president for member regulation. “There are many dozens of complaints where there's been [a] compromise of customer information, particularly information that is needed to get into online accounts and to execute transactions and move money.”

FINRA's social media spot check notification last week shouldn't come as a terrible surprise to the industry. The announcement underscores the need for firms to thoughtfully develop clear policies to supervise and manage usage, content and engagement.

A South Florida man charged with running a $13.6 million scam involving nonexistent shares in companies including Facebook and Groupon was sentenced to 11 years in prison.

Franklin Buys Remaining Stake in Alt Shop

Two U.S. Senate aides nominated to join the Securities and Exchange Commission will get a confirmation hearing before the Senate Banking Committee on June 27, according to a Senate announcement today.

When advisors are asked to describe their compensation on the FPA website, they can choose to check one of four options: fee-only, commission-only, a combination of fee and commission, or salary. But as one prominent advisor recently learned, those options are dangerously limited, given the industry’s often complex business models -- and the answers that planners select can contain minefields for the advisors, their firms and their clients.

Seven financial advisors had their right to use the Certified Financial Planning certification marks permanently revoked in March as part of a series of public disciplinary actions announced by the CFP Board this week.

"The bottom-line is to protect investors from advisors who may not have their best interest,” says Jack Waymire, the founder of Paladin Research and Registry. “We’re providing them the process to find out about the advisors they’re thinking of hiring – with a focus on certification, ethics, business practices, and services provided.”

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke said Wednesday that regulators are making steady progress on a number of critical rules under the Dodd-Frank Act, predicting that several final rules will be released in the coming months.