Law and regulation

Ignore the rhetoric from both sides on the issue. The odds that the business lending bill will be enacted this year are significantly slimmer than they were just last week.

“SIFMA’s views are not supportable and would make a mockery of the fiduciary standard,” according to The Institute for the Fiduciary Standard in a letter to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The regulator cited the Egan-Jones Ratings Company and its president Sean Egan for “material misrepresentations and omissions” in its 2008 application to become a national ratings agency.

Federico R. Buenrostro, former CEO of the California Public Employees' Retirement System, and a friend fabricated documents given to New York-based private equity firm Apollo Global Management, costing the asset manager $20 million in “fees it would not otherwise have paid,’’ the federal regulator said.

Financial reform will lead to a new emphasis on credentials in the financial services industry, which puts the Investment Management Consultants Association in a good position, says IMCA Executive Director and Chief Executive Sean Walters.

Two British twins in their teens bilked $3 million from American investors and stock promoters with tales of using a sophisticated bot to pick stocks, according to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Despite the easy passage of Rep. Eric Cantor’s Small Business Tax Relief bill, H.R. 9, in the House of Representatives, RIA firms aren’t likely to be counting on any tax savings at this point.

Regulators on Thursday heeded complaints by financial institutions to provide precise guidance on when they would have to comply with the so-called "Volcker Rule," saying full compliance was not expected before July 21, 2014.

The SEC now charges that a Chicago securities dealer whose chief financial officer was a one-time chief financial officer of optionsXpress continued to trade as a customer account under optionsXpress’s auspices, after delisting itself from the only market of which it was a member, the Chicago Board Options Exchange.

New regulatory rules could lift or weigh down the wealth management industry as it works to mend its relationship with consumers following the financial crisis, according to executives speaking at the SIFMA Private Client Conference.

Non-bank financial companies, including mutual fund operators, should get ready to find out whether they will be designated a "systemically important financial institution," aka, SIFI, now that the Financial Stability Oversight Council released final rules on April 3, according to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

The SEC charged four executives of what is now a Charles Schwab Corp. subsidiary as well as one customer with selling billions of dollars worth of securities they could not deliver.

After a long, winding legal road, involving no fewer than six federal court decisions, Ameriprise Financial finally won a suit alleging that it had charged excessively high advisor fees.

The 2008-2009 financial crisis that rocked worldwide markets was amplified by the lack of a sufficient regulatory framework, including checks on the largest broker-dealer firms, Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke said Friday.

The Financial Services Institute has expanded its agenda to include retirement and tax issues. As part of the expansion, the independent broker-dealer advocacy group has hired Robert Lewis as government affairs counsel for tax and retirement.

Non-bank financial companies-including mutual fund operators-should get ready to find out whether they will be designated a "systemically important financial institution," aka, SIFI, now that the Financial Stability Oversight Council released final rules on April 3, according to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

Does a U.S. Supreme Court ruling based on the Anna Nicole Smith case prevent a bankruptcy court from resolving hundreds of lawsuits brought by the Madoff firm's trustee?

Rep. Spencer Bachus seen offering legislation that could lead to FINRA becoming the self-regulatory organization overseeing investment advisors.

Lincoln Financial Advisors had abruptly terminated Jeffrey Concepcion in August 2008, according to the arbitration filing, and then withheld severance after he refused to agree to a non-competition agreement.

On Aprill 11, a pair of academics from the Lubin School of Business at Pace University released their findings on corporate culture as it relates to funds' performances.