Law and regulation

Regulatory reform conferees tussled Wednesday over provisions that would allow the Government Accountability Office more power to audit the Federal Reserve Board, give shareholders a nonbinding vote on compensation and strengthen investor protections.

The SEC will also require glidepath graphics and asset allocation taglines in advertisements—a new twist for funds that really aren’t as easy as they look.

The Senate has the advantage in conference committee, but advocates have allies there, too.

House conferees debating financial regulatory reform legislation today are expected to vote on amendments that would require the Securities and Exchange Commission to register and regulate municipal financial advisers, replacing Senate language that would give such regulatory authority to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board.

The ICI is asking both high-frequency traders and dark pools for more information—and turning to the SEC for help.

Lawmakers unexpectedly added an overhaul of the deposit insurance system to the final regulatory reform legislation on Tuesday, adding sweeping provisions that were not part of either the House or Senate revamp bills.

While coping with the flash crash and regulatory reform, the SEC's "new sheriff in town" paused for an interview Monday evening with CNBC's Maria Bartiromo.

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association Monday said the creation of a system of monitoring overall risks to the nation's financial industry could take one of eight forms, each of which would be costly.

More than 3,000 unwitting Canadians were fleeced of their retirement investments by four Canadians and two Florida men. The SEC's Denver office brought them in.

A fight is brewing over which agency should replace the soon-to-be-eliminated Office of Thrift Supervision on the board of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. While the House regulatory reform bill would give that seat to the Federal Reserve Board, the Senate's version would assign it to the proposed consumer protection bureau.

The regulatory reform conference committee officially kicked off Thursday, and while the final fate of key provisions remains up in the air, it is clear senators have several advantages over their House counterparts.

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd on Wednesday endorsed a proposal to force banks to spin off their derivatives desks, saying Sen. Blanche Lincoln's primary win this week had increased odds some form of it would be in the final regulatory reform bill.

Chairman Mary Schapiro recently told the Business Roundtable that the regulator is looking at proxy firms and the OBO/NOBO (“non-objecting beneficial owners”) systems.

An IRS agent has been charged with soliciting and accepting a $9,700 bribe from two business owners in exchange for lowering the amount of taxes they owed.

The Money Management Institute has named its new chairman, chair elect and six new board members.

With lawmakers from both chambers of Congress set to begin hammering out a single financial regulatory reform bill on Wednesday, one of the most contentious municipal-market issues to be worked out centers on who will regulate non-dealer financial advisers, swap advisers and other market intermediaries.

Interviews with analysts, industry representatives, academics and other sources point to a growing consensus on how some of these issues will play out.

Internal Revenue Service officials Thursday said that there are no plans to audit up to half of all Build America Bond deals, backing away from remarks they made last week.

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke said Thursday that the central bank remains committed to expanding the flow of credit to small businesses, saying it has retrained its examiners to ensure they are not part of the problem.

Broker used upfront money to buy a red Ferrari.