Compliance

It might sound elementary but legal eagles from some of the country’s biggest law firms convened today at the ICI Mutual Fund conference in Phoenix, A.Z. to drive home the importance of disclosure when it comes to mutual fund registration.

Financial services firms, advisors and brokers can get themselves caught in their own tracks on social media, worrying excessively about SEC rules on disclosures, marketing and communication, but Rajib Chanda, a partner with the Boston-based Ropes & Gray regulatory law firm, says the guidance out there is actually “pretty flexible.”

A former Morgan Keegan registered rep agreed to be barred permanently from the industry for putting 10 of his middle-class clients into “unsuitable” investments –- highly leveraged ETFs, regulators said.

Because of its increasing complexity and impacts on financial firms beyond banks, firms that run registered investment funds are suggesting that the Volcker Rule gets ‘re-proposed’ before it goes into effect in July.

The operator of the Frankfurt Exchange, Eurex derivatives market and Clearstream clearinghouse plans the suit in order to recoup some of its merger costs and to clear the way to potentially make a future deal in which it could expand its derivatives operation.

FINRA slammed Citi International Financial Services with a $600,000 fine for charging excessive markups and markdowns on corporate and agency bond transactions.

Commissioner Elisse Walter told fund industry executives Monday to re-engage with the Securities and Exchange Commission on a new round of reform of money market mutual funds – and end its “unconstructive disengagement’’ on the subject.

On April 6, the comment period on FINRA’s proposed changes to its BrokerCheck system will close, though there is still much debate and controversy about some of the proposed changes. Compliance consultant and securities attorney Jennifer Woods Burke shares her thoughts on the subject with Financial Planning.

Mutual funds may soon report not just to the Securities and Exchange Commission but the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as well, in some circumstances.

One giant leap for entrenching investor and consumer fraud in our financial system after a federal appeals court rules that a federal judge overstepped his authority in rejecting a settlement between Citigroup and the SEC.

Rex Staples’ securities enforcement experience and his background in securities law will be “a great asset” to the CFP Board, said Kevin Keller, the board’s CEO.

California-based investment advisor James Michael Murray allegedly defrauded investors using a bogus report from a fictitious auditing firm to embellish the performance of a hedge fund, according to the SEC.

Private company share trader SharesPost and its chief executive, Greg Brogger, have agreed to pay penalties, of $80,000 and $20,000 respectively, to settle charges that the firm facilitated securities transactions without registering with the SEC as a broker-dealer.

So you want to tap into the global markets and find new opportunities for growth? But before you do that, you need to get re-acquainted with the new IRS requirements for reporting the basis of the cost you ascribe to a security or fund you purchase.

So you want to tap into the global markets and find new opportunities for growth?

Securities regulators charged two Ameriprise Financial advisors and three others with insider-trading, saying they made $1.8 million in illicit profits based on confidential merger information one of the advisors learned through an Alcoholics Anonymous relationship.

FINRA developed a more robust market surveillance and whistleblower group. And the regulator recently imposed rules that require firms to report violations.

Legg Mason, Inc. today reported preliminary assets under management of $638 billion as of February 29, 2012, an increase of up 1% and some $7 billion over January’s AUM. The firm managed $677 billion last March.

Palm Beach Gardens, Fl.-based Lighthouse Partners, a fund-of-hedge-funds and managed account investment adviser, has taken a minority stake in 361 Capital, a Denver-based provider of alternative investment mutual funds, separate accounts, and limited partnerships to institutions, financial intermediaries, and high-net-worth investors.

Morgan Stanley said it has placed broker David S. Walker on leave, after prosecutors said a 44-year-old mother of four accused of running a brothel had visited the firm to discuss an online prostitution venture.