Practice management

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission both say they lack the resources to implement the responsibilities thrust upon them by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act. Here are the numbers. You judge how they stack up.

Firms have been tracking the adjusted cost basis of the equities and mutual funds bought and sold by investors for years. The challenge now is how best to capture this data and accurately report it to the IRS and investors.

The Securities and Exchange Commission Wednesday said it would start the process of setting rules for how security-based swap execution facilities will operate and how registration of such facilities will work.

The data is available through the Fidelity clearing unit’s online workstation.

If only the administration's task in fixing housing finance was as easy as choosing plan A or plan B. Instead, part of the Treasury Department's challenge is just sifting through all the ideas.

Now that the SEC has thrown down the gauntlet on reform of the securities industry, what can independent broker-dealers and advisors expect to happen next? A lot of studies. And more rules.

During a session at the FSI Broker-Dealer conference, a panel of marketing experts and one self-effacingly "clueless" independent broker-dealer executive weighed in on the challenge of motivating advisors to grow their client base, manage compliance issues and install meaningful continuity and succession plans without neglecting their existing roster of clients.

What makes a $1 billion regional firm tick? In the case of Modera Wealth Management, stick to the legacy firms’ philosophies.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved an all-public panel option for FINRA arbitrations. But that could result in more costs for all sides to pay for expert witnesses, one expert said.

Experienced investors talk at the Financial Services Institute annual conference about lessons hard learned in financial crises, their distrust of large firms and the value of establishing a personal relationship with their advisor.

UBS has hired a team of five new advisors from U.S. Trust to serve in the firm’s new private wealth management office in Charlotte, N.C.

The marketing campaign, “Two for Tomorrow,” is based on the 2% reduction in Social Security payroll taxes.

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Spencer Bachus continued criticism Monday of the administration's delay in offering reforms for the GSEs.

Consumers "like" rock bands and clothing brands on Facebook. A loyalty rewards startup expects that they will also "like" their banks in exchange for discounts on purchases.

Training new advisors is at the top of the list for firms like Wells Fargo.

Having a high IQ isn't enough to be a star performer.

Who will create and enforce a new, uniform fiduciary standard for not just brokers, but investment advisers, as well?

The London Stock Exchange has been working with British security services to investigate cyber attacks against it, that may have led to the postponement of a transfer to a new trading technology platform until February 14, according to a report in the Times of London.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board plans to seek public comment on a series of new rules and interpretive guidance in the next four to six weeks, most of which stem from its new oversight of muni advisors

A federal court has ordered the freezing of assets of a Stamford, Conn., investment adviser and hedge fund manager that has been charged with using $53 million from investors for his own benefit.