Compliance

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox announced this week that the SEC will be conducting an internal inquiry into the structure of its current disclosure system, creating a “fundamental rethinking of financial disclosure.”

When things start to go bad in the stock market or the economy in general, previously ignored things like mutual fund fees can suddenly irk investors.

Plans are currently underway to create a new commodities exchange in Hong Kong, potentially giving China a larger role in setting the world’s petroleum prices and adding to the reputation it craves as a global, economic powerhouse.

In light of the crisis of confidence in rating agencies following the subprime crisis, the Securities and Exchange Commission will diminish the importance of money market fund managers’ reliance on such agencies when investing in short-term debt.

The recent mortgage market crisis has opened a Pandora's box of white-collar cases probed by the U.S. attorney’s Eastern District office.

When an employee leaves a firm, can they take their client list with them to their new job?

The Supreme Court’s recent decision in LaRue v DeWolff to permit workers in 401(k) plans to sue administrators for high fees will inevitably lead to lower fees—and the end of the retail mutual fund industry’s dominance of the market. That’s the strong opinion of widely quoted, and frequent financial TV guest Ric Edelman.

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced Thursday that it would be releasing $103 million to investors who have lost money involving Banc of America Capital Management LLC (BACAP) and affiliates’ illegal and unethical activities.

As the tax debate begins between Senator Barack Obama and Senator John McCain, many investors and tax advisors say capital gains taxes will increase no matter what the outcome is this coming November, The Wall Street Journal reports. Senator Obama seeks to increase the current capital gains rate 5% or more for families making over $250,000.

Boston-based Eaton Vance Management has just received a no-action letter from the SEC that will permit it to provide a new auction-rate security known as Liquidity Protected Preferred Shares, The Wall Street Journal reports.

The family of deceased Circle T Partners hedge fund manager and frequent CNBC guest Seth Tobias is said to be near a settlement regarding his $25 million estate. Since 44-year-old Tobias’s mysterious death last September, his family and his wife, Filomena Tobias, have been disputing the circumstances of his death and the outcome of his estate.

Leading-edge technology has never been a hallmark of the Securities and Exchange Commission. While investment management has gone hand-in-hand with cutting-edge technology for the past quarter century, information technology typically accounted for just 8% of the Commission's annual budget in 2005, according to TowerGroup.

Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin are close to becoming the first two criminal indictment casualties of the subprime crisis, The Wall Street Journal reports this morning.

Japan’s domestic asset management reports are not disclosing the way they vote on various resolutions brought up at annual shareholders meetings, according to the Nikkei Report. That disclosure could significantly improve corporate governance.

TIAA-CREF has launched a new service to help sponsors of 403(b) retirement plans meet new Internal Revenue Service requirements by Jan. 1, 2009.

The Securities and Exchange Commission just released its full summer agenda and according to SEC Chairman Christopher Cox, the commission’s only firm plans are that it will be extremely busy in the coming months.

Instead of reporting to Ayer, Mass., federal prison on Monday to serve a 20-year term for defrauding $450 million from investors in the failed Bayou hedge fund, Samuel Israel III has either committed suicide or left clues to make authorities believe he has.

NEW YORK – Timothy Geithner, president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, called for substantial reforms to the structure of the regulatory system of the U.S.

Big changes are brewing in the 403(b) world. For the first time in 40 years, the Internal Revenue Service is mandating new requirements that aim to make the plans more like 401(k)s.

The Securities and Exchange Commission doesn’t think there is a need for hedge funds to include certain derivatives when calculating how they report ownership stakes in companies, according to a June 4 letter.