Compliance

Financial advisors may have breathed a sigh of relief after lawmakers reached a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff, but the next several weeks will bring more debate, and potentially more turmoil, over big-ticket budget items that could dramatically alter the strategies you recommend to clients.

Using its muscle to influence the debate as federal officials gear up to establish tighter regulations on the advisory world is the Financial Services Institute’s top priority this year, organization executives said Tuesday at the group’s annual conference.

A U.S. judge said the Internal Revenue Service can demand information from UBS AG about U.S. clients of Wegelin & Co., the Swiss bank that pleaded guilty this month to conspiring to help cheat the IRS.

Pioneer Investments is reshuffling its fund lineup including reorganizing four domestic equity funds and liquidating another.

Earlier this month, Goldman Sachs started the congo line, which quickly formed to include other money market fund players such as J.P. Morgan Funds, BlackRock Fidelity Investments, Federated Investors, Reich & Tang and State Street Global Advisors, all of whom have announced plans to publish the market value of assets in their funds everyday, while keeping the net asset values in their funds priced at $1 a share.

The Investment Company Institute is proposing that prime money market funds impose temporary “gates” and fees to halt redemptions during times of market stress.

If confirmed by the Senate, veteran prosecutor Mary Jo White would assume responsibility for moving ahead with a number of initiatives that would reshape the regulatory landscape for advisors

Mary Jo White, a prosecutor and former U.S. attorney in Manhattan, will be nominated by President Barack Obama to be the next chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, according to a White House statement.

President Barack Obama will nominate former US attorney Mary Jo White to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission, replacing incumbent Chairman Elisse Walter, the New York Post reports.

The Internal Revenue Service provided advice to taxpayers Wednesday on dealing with the late opening of tax season on January 30 that could also prove helpful to tax preparers.

Jacques Longerstaey has joined F-Squared Investments as a senior vice president of investments.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council has extended the comment period for proposed recommendations for money market mutual fund reforms.

House Republicans plan to vote Jan. 23 on a three-month extension of U.S. borrowing authority in an effort to force the Democratic-led Senate to adopt a budget plan.

Fidelity Investments has closed off one of its funds to new investors.

It all started with Goldman Sachs, which began publishing the daily market value of the assets held in its money market mutual funds in the United States on January 9.

Wealth manager Peter J. Eichler Jr., once had more than $10 billion in assets under management. Following his RIA’s bankruptcy filing in November, however, the SEC has filed a lawsuit against Eichler and Aletheia Research and Management for alleged securities fraud and for allegedly violating fiduciary duties to clients and to the funds Aletheia managed.

As regulators continue their work implementing the numerous provisions of the Dodd-Frank financial reform act, a leading Wall Street trade group is hoping that 2013 will see movement on the controversial effort to implement a uniform fiduciary duty for investment advisors and broker-dealers when providing personalized advice to retail clients.

A Securities and Exchange Commission member said Wednesday that many improvements to the municipal securities market can be made by the SEC without seeking regulatory authority over municipal issuers from Congress.

A rise in schemes targeting advisors has prompted the SEC to seek new protections. But it’s not clear how far the proposed rules would go.

A proposal to tighten regulation of foreign banks in the U.S. would also significantly expand the central bank's oversight of foreign broker-dealers, effectively snatching supervisory responsibility from the SEC.