Compliance

The decision by the Democratic Senator from Connecticut has frustrated investor groups who want the more stringent fiduciary standard to be applied to brokers as well as to financial planners who already abide by the rule.

Hidden, high 401(k) fees that do not decrease commensurately as plan balances rise are individually costing investors hundreds of thousands of dollars over a lifetime of saving, while enriching asset managers with billions.

The SPARK Institute has released the “Universal Small Employer Retirement Savings Program” report, in which it explains how universal plans would be less expensive and easier than automatic IRAs.

Proposed legislation by the Securities and Exchange Commission to have single family offices register as investment advisors is part of the financial regulatory reform negotiations currently being debated in the Senate.

Proposed new hedge fund rules in Europe would limit access to the market for fund managers and custodian banks outside the EU, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has argued. Nonetheless, the European Commission is pressing ahead with the new rules.

The Internal Revenue Service is collecting information on approximately 20 Swiss banks, according a letter from UBS, one of the main banks it has been investigating.

Firms are grappling with how to best use the technology while not running afoul of regulators.

Reserve Management submitted court documents Thursday denying that it, founder Bruce Bent or his son Bruce Bent II intentionally tried to mislead investors in the flagship $62 billion Reserve Primary Fund into believing the now-defunct fund that broke the buck was solvent.

A bill to end private lenders' role in government guaranteed student lending — assumed to be on its way to quick enactment — has suddenly become a hotly contested debate.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd's decision to try to negotiate a bipartisan regulatory reform deal with Republican Sen. Bob Corker was a mistake.

The Securities and Exchange Commission said it would decide in 2011 if it would adopt international standards, but that adoption would not come before 2015.

The top Republican tax-writer in the Senate yesterday warned colleagues that provisions in the House-passed jobs bill that offer high subsidy rates for Build America Bond-type programs would allow Wall Street banks to pocket more in underwriting fees.

After years out of the spotlight due to the financial crisis, anti-money-laundering issues returned to Capitol Hill on Wednesday as lawmakers raised renewed concerns about the supervision of money-services businesses.

A total of four sessions at the conference were focused on regulations and fiduciary responsibility and speculation swirled about who would be affected and how.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board is expected to file long-awaited rule changes with the Securities and Exchange Commission that would implement the final phase of its transparency system for auction-rate securities and variable-rate demand obligations.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd said Tuesday that he continues to hope for a strong bipartisan regulatory reform bill, but he offered no fresh details on developments in negotiations.

Tarp warrants could spawn a new source of funds for banks

Bank regulators issued 1,143 formal enforcement actions against banks and their holding companies last year, a new record and more than double the 2008 tally.

Money market funds are welcoming the Federal Reserve’s offer to buy an estimated $1 trillion in reverse repos, as the economy continues to rebound and the government looks to reduce the $2 trillion it pumped into the capital markets.

Capital Fulfillment Group has debuted ClickOne, a summary prospectus tool in compliance with Securities and Exchange Commission rules. Using patented technologies, it is designed to offer a simple and cost-effective way for mutual fund companies to equip investors with summary prospectuses via print-on-demand. CFG estimates this will reduce asset management firms' printing costs by 80%.