Economy

UBS AG, Switzerland’s biggest bank, said it probably won’t be able to reach its profitability goal in 2015 after the Swiss regulator demanded the company hold more capital for risks related to litigation.

Lawmakers are set to begin debate today on a bill that would delay, perhaps indefinitely, a proposal by the Department of Labor to impose a fiduciary standard on advisors to retirement plans.

Assets held at direct-to-investor accounts have nearly doubled since 2008 and are outpacing growth at traditional channels, according to a Cerulli report.

Raymond James Financial, the brokerage that acquired Morgan Keegan & Co. from Regions Financial last year, posted a quarterly profit that rose 41 percent on a one-time tax benefit.

The owners of the world’s largest brokerages say the days of paying big bonuses to lure each other’s brokers and keep their own in place may be ending.

Morgan Stanley picked up two former UBS advisors with a combined $3 million in production.

Financial advisors who specialize manage nearly double the client assets of their peers, according to a study of 7,000 advisors conducted by research firm Cerulli Associates.

From a relationship standpoint, social media and the financial advisory business are a perfect complement to one another. But social media presents serious compliance issues for firms and advisors.

Raoul Weil, the fugitive former head of UBS AG’s global wealth management business, was arrested in Bologna after checking into a hotel under his own name and triggering an alert to Italy’s authorities.

The brokerage added five advisors from Wells Fargo and opened three offices.

The firm netted a $668 million profit as executives said it is beginning to see the benefits from its purchase of the final stake in Smith Barney from Citigroup.

The owner of the world’s biggest brokerage set aside a smaller share of revenue to pay employees at its investment-banking and trading division in the first nine months of the year.

An institute executive told Congress it should consolidate and simplify the types of tax-favored retirement plans now available to small business owners to minimize the cost and administrative burden imposed by the plans.

The firm has added a Florida-based team with over $1 billion in client assets to its independent channel.

Bank of America posted strong revenue growth in the same quarter its big rivals showed weakness on bread-and-butter banking. But concerns about its higher litigation expenses overshadowed the good news.

Stockbrokers routinely succeeded in erasing settlements of customer complaints from their regulatory records in the wake of 2008’s market turmoil, making it harder for investors to research the money managers, a group of plaintiffs lawyers said.

The firm told clients its money-market funds aren’t holding Treasuries that mature in the next month as Congress debates whether to raise the U.S. debt ceiling.

Revenue at the Global Wealth and Investment Management division, including Merrill Lynch and U.S. Trust, was off from 2Q records.

Three big industry names are joining forces to form a new wealth management firm, Lebenthal Wealth Advisors.

Banks are looking to the relative safety and profitability of their wealth management divisions to boost earnings. But with that strategy comes increased regulatory and ethical scrutiny of this business line.