Law and regulation

Consumer and industry advocates are criticizing FINRA over its alternative to a proposal that would have required recruiting firms to disclose advisor compensation incentives to clients when moving between brokerages.

The Securities and Exchange Commission will probably use emergency court action to stop state and local governments from selling municipal bonds if it thinks their offerings are fraudulent, an enforcement division official told bond lawyers meeting here.

"Any effort to put broker-dealers and advisors into the same box is probably not going to work," says a former deputy director of the SEC's Division of Investment Management.

Ane S. Plate was banned for allegedly looting more than $140,000 from a customer account.

Sales and advice should be separated by law, because there’s a clear difference between true "fiduciary" practices and those of the brokerage industry, Fiduciary Institute says.

"We want to focus on what advisors can do to prepare for the next generation or two," says NAPFA chair Robert Gerstemeier.

TD Ameritrade's online hub will offer information and action alerts to advisors as lawmakers and regulators weigh hot-button issues.

An ex-Morgan Stanley advisor represented himself in a contract dispute with the firm before FINRA, and the arbitration panel assessed him over $200,000 in fees.

Two days after Apple unveiled its attempt to advance mobile payments, CFPB Director Richard Cordray cited the burgeoning field as a key area of concern his agency needs to examine.

Supporters of a broader and more rigorously enforced fiduciary standard are rallying behind a set of best practices they would like to see advisors and brokers incorporate into their practices.

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FINRA has promoted one of its own to head the regulator's disciplinary unit, but still has no replacement for Linda Fienberg's other role as head of arbitrations.

The financial services sector as a whole is chasing short-term gains and in the process saddling investors with the costs of higher trading volumes and often not acting in their best interests, says Vanguard founder John Bogle.

Banc of California has announced extensive community reinvestment goals as part of its planned purchase of 20 Banco Popular branches in Southern California. The agreement, which appeased a community group that had opposed the sale, shows how much power such organizations wield when it comes to M&A.

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Advocates are calling on the head of the SEC to move forward with a uniform fiduciary proposal, even if that means pushing the rules through a divided commission split along party lines.

Linda Fienberg, the head of FINRA's contentious dispute resolution division, will step down from the organization at the end of November.

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The Justice Department's recent $16.6 billion deal with Bank of America over crisis-era mortgage fraud has raised fresh questions over a perceived lack of transparency in the settlement process.

After an advisor was terminated by his firm, the tussle over the departure contract had just begun.