Law and regulation

One year after the "untimely" death of Richard Aster, founder of Larkspur, Calif.-based Aster Capital Investment Management, the investment advisor is selling off its assets.

The Wilmington Rock Maple Alternatives Fund (WRAIX) is making due with one less advisor starting today.

Active exchange-traded fund provider AdvisorShares is closing the AdvisorShares Rockledge SectorSAM ETF (SSAM) on June 21. The fund investing primarily in both long and short positions in U.S. sector ETFs.

A slew of recent regulatory shifts is keeping examiners busy -- and advisors must know how to react when they get a call from FINRA or the SEC.

Regulators have formed a working group to enhance coordination between federal and state banking agencies on cybersecurity.

Legg Mason has added John Murphy and John Myers to its Board of Directors, effective immediately. Murphy was appointed to the Audit and Compensation Committees and Myers was appointed to the Nominating & Corporate Governance and Risk Committees.

A new survey by Ceres, an advocate for sustainability leadership, gives a pat on the back to three fund companies for supporting the majority of shareholder resolutions filed with companies on climate change and a slap on the hand to six others for not supporting a single resolution.

The Securities and Exchange Commission's long-awaited proposal to reform the money market mutual fund industry has left observers wondering whether the agency compromised too much in an effort to get a plan out the door.

A broad coalition of advocacy groups is calling for the SEC to press ahead with an expansion of a fiduciary standard to hold broker-dealers to identical standards of care for retail client that are already imposed on investment advisors.

The Securities and Exchange Commission issued its long-anticipated proposal for reforms to stabilize money market mutual funds and protect investors from the type of run that brought the sector to the brink of collapse at the height of the financial crisis in 2008.

Some of the U.S.’s largest providers of money-market mutual funds have sought a compromise on new regulation, making adoption of tougher rules for the $2.6 trillion industry more likely if far from a sure bet.

Former U.S. Senator and new SIFMA CEO Judd Gregg tells On Wall Street why the legislation is the wrong type of law.

Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co. were fined by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority over sales of loan funds.

Regulation should be strong enough to protect investors yet business-minded enough to promote active derivatives, mortgage and other markets, says Judd Gregg, a former New Hampshire lawmaker and new chief executive of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association.

ING U.S. announced last week that the underwriters in its initial public offering have exercised their overallotment option to purchase approximately 9.8 million additional shares of ING U.S. from ING Group at the IPO price of $19.50 per share.

Two of Vanguard largest funds: Vanguard Total International Stock Index Fund (VGTSX) and Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund (VTSMX) representing $343 billion in aggregate assets will begin tracking indexes of FTSE and the University of Chicago’s Center for Research in Security Prices (CRSP) on June 3.

Regulatory efforts to change Community Reinvestment Act rules — unveiled three years after nationwide public hearings on the subject — are far too timid, according to consumer groups.

Changes in ERISA rules could make life more difficult for advisors to promote 401(k) plans to employers.

Our legal expert discusses when settling an arbitration case saves time and money.

Wealth management executives call for more accountability and a new approach to client relationships.