Compliance

UBS AG announced that CEO Oswald Gruebel has resigned and that Sergio Ermotti will assume the top spot at the Swiss bank on an interim basis.

The Department of Labor announced Monday that it has pulled its current proposal for the definition of a fiduciary off the table. The agency will take up the issue in early 2012 and re-propose a fiduciary definition after more industry input.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved the proposal of a new rule designed “to prohibit certain material conflicts of interest between those who package and sell asset-backed securities (ABS) and those who invest in them.”

Investment advisor advocates are breathing easier after the Department of Labor announced Monday that it has pulled its current proposal on the definition of a fiduciary off the table. The agency will take up the issue in early 2012 and repropose a fiduciary definition after more industry input.

Investment advisor advocates are breathing easier after the Department of Labor announced Monday that it has pulled its current proposal on the definition of a fiduciary off the table. The agency will take up the issue in early 2012 and repropose a fiduciary definition after more industry input.

A group of regulators and lobbyists speaking at an industry conference this weekend laid out a possible timetable for the implementation of new Dodd-Frank-related regulations affecting financial planners.

The Investment Company Institute hosted the 2011 Tax and Accounting Conference September 11–14 at the JW Marriott Desert Springs in Palm Desert, California. Here are a few of the many people who made it the place the discuss tax, accounting, and regulatory developments. See the photo gallery here.

The unstable economic, political and investing climate dominated the sessions at this year's Investment Company Institute Tax and Accounting Conference.

PALM DESERT, CALIF.-"The past 60, 90 days have been the craziest that risk managers have ever faced in their careers, in terms of the national debate over the U.S. debt ceiling, market volatility and a host of other key risks asset managers are now facing," said Joseph A. Carrier, chief risk officer at Legg Mason.

SAN DIEGO--The FPA Experience 2011 annual conference here this week had one of the most colorful Americans in recent history as its first keynote speaker: Frank Abagnale Jr., the notorious imposter and check counterfeiter featured in the hit film, "Catch Me If You Can."

PALM DESERT, CALIF.—As investors have fled equity funds, the industry’s move into alternative investments has become one of the biggest concerns of directors of the board.

Mortgage real-estate investment trusts have been exempt from the Investment Act of 1940, which regulates the fees that can be charged to investors and limits the amount of leverage a fund can use. But the Securities and Exchange Commission said last month that it had initiated a review of that exemption, as mortgage REITs are beginning to look more like mutual funds.

Crime lore has it that when the prolific stick-up artist Willie Sutton was asked why he robbed banks, he glibly responded, "Because that's where the money is." And in the 21st century, Sutton's maxim is alive and well in the cyber realm.

An accountant with a New York accounting firm that handles smaller broker-dealers is warning advisors who work at such firms that if their employer is a clearing organization, they should pay attention to how well it is planning for a continuation of business under new rule changes being mulled by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A hearing before a subcommittee of the House Committee on Financial Services Tuesday allowed representatives from across the financial advisory industry to air their views about whether a new self-regulatory organization is necessary to oversee advisors and broker-dealers and, if it is, how it should be constructed.

The concept release is out. And the Securities and Exchange Commission wants to know: Just how much leverage should a mutual fund have?

WASHINGTON - Although Federal Reserve Board officials promised to unveil a long-awaited package of key Dodd-Frank rules by the end of the summer, the central bank is likely to need more time to complete them.

Investment advisors could eventually have a national self-regulatory organization akin to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority soon, if draft legislation introduced by an Alabama Congressman becomes law. But it will not come without a fight.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is in the early stages of a major examination into the operations of hedge fund companies and investment banks that engage in high-frequency trading.

The Securities and Exchange Commission said it will seek public comment on a plan to conduct retrospective reviews of its existing regulations.