Practice management

Two years after proposing rules to avert misuse of client assets on the scale of the Madoff ponzi scheme, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed amendments that would strengthen oversight of broker-dealer audits.

Huntington Bancshares this week rolled out mobile banking applications for customers' iPhones and Android-powered smartphones that will allow them to check balances, pay bills and transfer funds on the fly.

Portware said it is working with Thomson Reuters to create a broad range of trading services, available globally on-demand.

Orange Business Services said it launched an online store for selling applications that can run on its intelligent trading turret devices. The apps will run on its Open Trade smart turret, introduced in 2010 and intended to be used as a “personal trading assistant.''

A survey of 1,009 adults by Edward Jones on their retirement savings found good news and bad news. While 15% said their portfolios have recovered from the economic downturn, up from 12% in April 2010, 25% are not saving for retirement, up from 16% a year ago.

The question of whether some banks are still "too big to fail" will not be settled until the next crisis. That, in a nutshell, was the takeaway from a House Financial Services Committee hearing on Tuesday, where lawmakers fought with each other over whether the Dodd-Frank Act adequately addressed the problem.

As an advisor, are you the equivalent of an “economic good” or a “free good?” Advisors who want to succeed in the future must make sure they are an “economic good” type of advisor and not a “free good” advisor.

As an advisor, your website is your most important piece of Internet real estate. It’s the first stop for people who want to learn more about you. In fact, it's likely that your website now makes more first impressions than you do. As such, it plays a significant role in shaping people’s opinion of your practice and your services so it's crucial to do it right.

Fixnetix said it had developed a microchip that achieves "wire-to-wire" execution of trading instructions in less than one microsecond.

Executing a trade isn’t easy. Broker-dealers have to figure out where to trade, when to trade and how much to trade in a way that will minimize their total costs.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon's scolding of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke had broad support among bankers reeling from a re-defeat on the Durbin amendment and renewed anxieties about the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. With "300 rules coming," as Dimon lamented, there are plenty of things for bankers to hate.

Successful advisory firms make intelligent, strategic choices in hiring, compensating and developing employees.

Gabriel Garcia, director at Pershing Advisor Solutions, a BNY Mellon company, spoke at the INSITE conference giving advice on how advisors can get more referrals from their existing client base.

The New England Patriots winning three Super Bowl trophies is not all about luck and talent. If businesses apply the same team principles, they too can have their share of winning seasons.

Hedge fund advisers who have registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission by July 21 have a lot more to worry about than simply filling out Form ADV.

SS&C Technologies said it launched a self-service portal for fund services, online.

Visa Inc. said its acquisition of the South African mobile payments company Fundamo will help it serve more underbanked consumers abroad. The San Francisco payments network said it would pay about $110 million for the Cape Town company.

With regulators struggling to decide which loans to excuse from risk-retention, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair said Thursday the best option would have been to shelve the exemption altogether.

Customer relationship management software can be an advisor's best friend, but experts say most users still aren't getting everything they can out of it to grow their business.

Advisors still have trust hurdles to get over, but that also opens the door for new takeaway high net worth business.