Law and regulation

UBS Securities has once again been penalized for its improper handling of short sales. This time, the fine from the SEC is for $8 million and follows a $12 millon fine imposed by FINRA less than two weeks ago.

FINRA has fined Morgan Stanley Smith Barney $1 million and ordered another $371,000 in restitution and interest to customers for excessive markups and markdowns charged to customers on corporate and municipal bond transactions as well as other supervision violations.

The Financial Services Authority has slapped a Dubai-based private investor a record $9.6 million – the largest fine ever for an individual – for manipulating the price of a Indian firm traded on the London Stock Exchange.

The proliferation of new regulations emanating from the Dodd-Frank Act, Basel III and Solvency II are collectively inducing an outpouring of technology spending from companies in the financial service sector, a new report finds.

SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro said reform of money market funds boils down to creating a dedicated capital buffer, to protect against runs, or letting the net asset value of such funds float, day by day, long anathema in the industry.

Citigroup Chief Executive Vikram Pandit said Monday that MF Global’s woes point to a need for an expanded focus on the shadow banking system and broader transparency for derivatives.

On the heels of the Financial Planning Standards Board's semi-annual meeting in Washington, D.C., top leaders of the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards offered an update on the group's agenda, which remains dominated by policy advocacy and an ambitious public awareness campaign.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board would for the first time require broker-dealers to disclose to state and local governments that they are not fiduciaries and would prohibit underwriters from telling issuers not to hire financial advisors, under revised rule changes it filed Thursday.

The waves of financial regulations that are being introduced around the world "represent some of the biggest changes in financial services in 70 years." Here's what's changed and what you and your firm can do now to meet these new regulatory requirements.

A Georgetown University professor has proposed a different idea in the ongoing debate over how investment advisors should be effectively regulated: outsource the heavy lifting to accounting firms.

Was a complex product sold to a wealthy family that was only suitable for an institutional client?

Our legal expert discusses what happens when clients don't follow orders.

Financial planners across the globe are just as aware of the potential repercussions that Dodd-Frank Act implementation and other regulatory issues will have on the profession as their U.S. counterparts, the head of the Financial Planning Standards Board said during a media briefing Monday morning.

The SEC is now requiring alternative investment fund managers to provide a lot more details on their operations.

The SEC has ordered FINRA to improve the way it handles documents submitted during SEC inspections. The order, issued Thursday as part of an administrative settlement between the two organizations, comes after the disclosure that the director of FINRA’s Kansas City Office in 2008 ordered the minutes of three meetings dating back to 2006 and 2007 to be altered hours before they were they were provided to the SEC’s Chicago Regional Office.

The Mutual Fund Directors Forum has named Susan Ferris Wyderko as president and chief executive officer, replacing Forum founding President Allan Mostoff, who will retire on Dec. 31.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is warning financial firms that following the spirit of the law is just as important as the letter of the law.

The Department of Labor issued new regulations that aim to broaden access to personalized investment advice for workers engaged in retirement savings plans.

"Simple Truths" From a Man Who Isn't an Academic

Wells Fargo’s Rich Lowrie helped craft the tax proposal that’s driving political debate.