Compliance

Stevens says bank-like regulations could hurt mutual funds.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has censured and fined Piper ­Jaffray & Co. $700,000 for failing to retain about 4.3 million e-mails over a six-year period and for not alerting FINRA that it was having problems with its e-mail retention and retrieval.

As the two chambers of Congress begin to hammer out a single financial regulatory reform bill over the next several weeks, industry groups have mixed views about a provision in the Senate bill that would prohibit banks from engaging in proprietary trading but exclude municipal, Treasury and federal agency securities from the ban.

The financial regulatory reform bill recently approved by the Senate could be improved to address several key issues that could negatively impact mutual funds, said Paul Schott Stevens, president and CEO of the Investment Company Institute.

WASHINGTON — The recovery zone bond program would double in size to $50 billion and Build America Bonds could be used to do current refundings of existing BABs under a new tax and jobs bill released late Thursday evening by leaders of the House and Senate tax-writing committees.

BOSTON -- In their efforts to harmonize international regulations and allow the trade of structured products between continents, regulators in the U.S. and abroad acknowledge that cooperation with financial industry leaders is key to creating successful, transparent products.

BOSTON -- The staggering growth of UCITS (Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities) throughout Europe, Asia and Latin America has led to a proliferation of new investment products and trading opportunities, but restrictive investment mandates and tax requirements in the U.S. are causing some U.S. investors to feel left out of the game.

The recovery zone bond program would double in size to $50 billion and Build America Bonds could be used to do current refundings of existing BABs under a new tax and jobs bill released late Thursday evening by leaders of the House and Senate tax-writing committees.

Though House and Senate lawmakers still have plenty of issues to work out in the final regulatory reform bill, one thing is already clear: The legislation will do little to streamline the fractured financial regulatory framework.

Bill Would Extend Muni Provisions

The Senate voted Thursday evening to approve a historic financial regulatory reform bill that would make sweeping changes in how the financial system is regulated.

New rules approved Wednesday by the Internal Revenue Service require 401(k) providers to offer participants at least three investment alternatives to company stock, which experts say most plan providers do anyway.

A fourth market participant, Mark Zaino, has pleaded guilty to participating in bid-rigging and fraud conspiracies in connection with municipal investment contracts and derivatives, the Justice Department announced yesterday.

For a bill that has already seen its fair share of fits and starts, regulatory reform legislation hit a wall Wednesday as it failed a key procedural vote in the Senate and lawmakers squabbled over whether to add more amendments.

WASHINGTON — After refusing to answer questions for weeks about whether banks should be allowed to continue to operate as swaps dealers, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd quietly filed an amendment Tuesday that would give regulators the power to gut such a proposed ban.

WASHINGTON — Financial institutions are sounding the alarm over an amendment to the Senate bill that many initially deemed harmless but now see as threatening a key source of capital: trust-preferred securities.

When it comes to investing, many commercial banks, pension funds, endowments and other institutions are not sophisticated and need SEC protections.

The SEC, FINRA and national securities exchanges are proposing individual circuit-breakers for every stock available in the U.S.

After refusing to answer questions for weeks about whether banks should be allowed to continue to operate as swaps dealers, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd quietly filed an amendment Tuesday that would give regulators the power to gut such a proposed ban.

Financial institutions are sounding the alarm over an amendment to the Senate bill that many initially deemed harmless but now see as threatening a key source of capital: trust-preferred securities.