Practice management

The SEC's market structure crimes unit is hiring a group of non-lawyer trading specialists to aid in its investigations.

Lobbying over the contentious issue of regulatory oversight of investment advisors will likely continue deep into the next session of Congress, with some advocacy groups working to scuttle the measure altogether in an election-shortened legislative calendar.

New cost basis reporting rules are particularly challenging. Here's how to turn them into an opportunity for your practice.

Financial data, analytics and disclosure management services provider Edgar Online has launched I-Metrix Enterprise, the latest version of its I-Metrix professional risk analysis technology.

Financial advisors looking to save costs, improve productivity and meet compliance standards recognize the importance of an effective document management application that goes above beyond Adobe Acrobat – but thus far the options remain fairly limited.

Whether you're a sophisticated early adopter or a newbie to all the latest technology available to you and your firm, these stories should bring you up to speed about everything any financial advisor or firm needs to know about information technology to improve productivity and increase assets under management.

Walmart, the world’s largest private employer, and Merrill Lynch, without admitting to wrongdoing, have agreed to pay $13.5 million in a class-action lawsuit accusing them of breaching their fiduciary duty to 2 million past and present Walmart workers. The suit was settled in Kansas City federal court.

The Principal has launched the Dreamcatcher mobile application for iPhones, a companion to the Dreamcatcher web tool. This is part of Principal’s “Dream Again with The Principal” financial educational campaign aimed at helping people envision their financial goals and putting them into clear focus.

SIFMA spent $3.96 million on lobbying during the first three quarters of 2011, slightly outpacing its efforts for the same periods in 2008 and 2009, according to reports filed with the clerk of the U.S. House that contain information for both houses of Congress.

National Financial, Fidelity Investment’s clearing and custody company, announced a new myStreetscape portal for investors working with brokers who use the Streetscape platform.

Mutual funds have a new competitor in the defined contribution market: collective investment trusts. These investments have been around for years but are now increasingly grabbing the attention of investors in defined contribution retirement plans.

TD Ameritrade this week will roll out an upgrade of its open architecture platform’s integration with cloud-based electronic signature system DocuSign, as it streamlines DocuSign’s pairing with financial form-filling software Laser App.

BATS Europe said it has resolved the “hardware issue” that shut off all trading on Tuesday.

BNY Mellon Wealth Management has appointed financial services veteran Ron Bruder managing director of a growing team of advisors to ultra high-net-worth families and family offices.

Microsoft Outlook moved down to second place — overtaken by Redtail — in the CRM software category for advisors this year. It was the first time in the history of Financial Planning’s annual tech survey that Outlook was not in first place.

BATS Europe is confronting “system issues.” The pan-European trading venue operated by BATS Global Markets went down at 9:36 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time.

If it looks too good to be true, it is. That appears to be the stance that will be taken by the SEC when it comes to investigating the fraudulent activities of hedge fund advisors as evidenced by its recent enforcement action against three separate firms and six individuals.

Financial Planning columnist Bob Veres says advisors need to understand what could happen if FINRA becomes their regulator.

Tablets have fundamentally changed the way financial advisors do their work and there’s every reason to believe they will continue to be the dominant tool of choice in the advisory community for years to come.

Ahead of the Department of Labor’s anticipated proposal to redefine fiduciary responsibility, expected sometime in 2012, 55 House Republicans sent a letter asking for more careful consideration of the effects on consumer choice before any new rule is proposed.