Compliance

Since the financial crisis and Great Recession, 401(k) plans have undergone dramatic shifts. To foster diversification and greater participation, 51% of participants in Fidelity Investments' 401(k) plans are in automatically enrolled plans, up from 16% five years ago, and 73% of the plans use target-date funds as the default, up from 11% in 2006. In the past year, 64% of sponsors changed their investment lineup-up dramatically from 20% in 2008.

The second iteration of the European Markets in Financial Instruments Directive is supposed to fix what was wrong with the first version, adopted in 2007.

The second iteration of the European Markets in Financial Instruments Directive is supposed to fix what was wrong with the first version, adopted in 2007.

Neuberger Berman has placed Fayad Abbasi, an analyst at the center of a federal insider-trading probe, on paid leave. However, a Neuberger Berman spokesperson told The Wall Street Journal that the company was unaware of Abbasi being named in the investigation

A Dallas district court upheld a $1.7 million FINRA arbitration panel’s penalty against Raymond James Financial Services over how a former independent contractor handled the finances of an elderly Texas man and the estate of his deceased wife.

The Dodd-Frank Act contains many examples of this desire to impose old standards on a new reality.

Our legal expert explains the ramifications of serving elderly clients.

FINRA and the SEC issued a joint risk alert and regulatory notice Wednesday, advising broker-dealers to make sure they’re mindful of what’s going on within their branch offices and even offering some tips to ensure they remain in compliance.

FINRA has sanctioned eight firms and 10 individuals for selling interests in private placement offerings “without having a reasonable basis for recommending the securities,” the regulatory agency said in a statement. The sanctions included ordering more than $3.2 million in total restitution.

The SEC has charged three investment advisors — OMNI Investment Advisors, Feltl & Company and Asset Advisors LLC — for failing to implement compliance procedures to prevent securities law violations. OMNI’s owner, Gary R. Beynon, was also charged.

An industry group has asked regulators to disclose the factors they will use to determine which muni broker-dealers pose more risks and should undergo compliance examinations more often under a new proposed exam program.

THE INABILITY TO INNOVATE AND THE DIRECT impact of that on their firm's profitability are fund executives' biggest regulatory concerns.This is one of the key findings from Money Management Executive's 2011 Regulatory Outlook Survey of 184 industry executives by Lodestar Research Corp.

Rep. Barney Frank, the influential Massachusetts Democrat who championed legislation that made such a dramatic impact on the financial planning industry, will not seek re-election next year, capping a 32-year career in Congress.

The fund industry has historically done an effective job of responding to regulatory challenges. Last Monday's show of force by the Investment Company Institute and 31 industry leaders was a case in point.

THE INABILITY TO INNOVATE AND THE DIRECT impact of that on their firm's profitability are fund executives' biggest regulatory concerns.

With new cost-basis reporting requirements in effect for the 2011 tax year, Charles Schwab is warning investment advisors to brace for a hectic tax season and prepare for a flood of questions from clients who for the first time will receive a revised 1099-B form packed with new transaction information.

The Financial Services Authority has for the first time ever barred a compliance officer from working in the financial services industry.

The SEC charged a longtime Bernie Madoff employee with fraud for his role in creating fake trades to facilitate the massive Ponzi scheme.

The SEC has ordered broker-dealer FTN Financial Securities to pay nearly $2 million for allowing a registered investment advisor, Sentinel Management, to defraud its clients through a reverse repurchase transaction.

The Investment Company Institute on Monday sent a letter signed by 32 leaders of the fund industry, to the co-chairs of the Super Committee, or the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction.