Practice management

The central bank aims to send an encouraging sign to investors: the economy is stable and the giant banks are safe. It's a gamble with some downsides.

There is an extra wrinkle of complexity this year as the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts are set to expire at the end of the year. Many members of Congress have expressed support for extending these tax cuts to some, if not all, taxpayers either temporarily or permanently. Without Congressional action, tax rates will rise to as high as 39.6% on ordinary income and 20% on capital gains.

Industry groups are urging the Securities and Exchange Commission to reject a proposal from the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board to provide it with an additional $17 million in revenue annually by nearly doubling the amount of transaction fees it collects from dealers.

Nearly half of the nation's chief financial officers and senior controllers polled by global CPA and business advisory firm Grant Thornton say that the U.S. should not adopt international Financial Reporting Standards until after U.S. GAAP and IFRS have converged to the point where the differences are inconsequential - a time frame of between five to seven years.

Though the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has jurisdiction over a wide range of financial products, Elizabeth Warren is making credit cards her top priority.

Regardless of the size of the investor, it seems that timely communication can save a relationship, or at least stall its demise.

FINRA sanctioned the New York-based company with a $650,000 fine and ordered it to review its procedures and systems and document corrective measures

UBS Wealth Management Americas hired three advisors from Morgan Stanley Smith Barney in its Los Angeles operation.

LPL advisor Stephen Wedel is wowing clients by creating retirement income streams out of investment sources most advisors don’t touch.

“We have just established a framework,” the Connecticut Democrat said at SIFMA's annual conference on Monday. “The rest is up to regulators and many in this room. It is the government’s duty to set the parameters and remain a vigilant watchdog.”

In another outgrowth of the May 6 Flash Crash, the Securities and Exchange Commission Monday approved rules that would effectively prohibit "stub quotes" in the U.S. equity markets.

The economic downturn took a toll on how much money wealthy families donated to charity in 2009, with average gift amounts tumbling by 35% from 2007, according to a Bank of America study released on Tuesday.

“Financial institutions and Wall Street’s favorability rating is below Congress, which is a feat unto itself right now,” a speaker at SIFMA’s annual conference said Monday.

SPARK says 25 basis point cap on the fees is not high enough.

Negative sentiment weighs down healthy savings rates in the third quarter, trend firm First Command finds.

While many advisors are on a behavioral finance kick right now, they don’t necessarily practice the emotion-free rationality they preach to clients.

Even though Americans know they are responsible for their retirement and are not confident about the future of Social Security they still save less than they know they should.

Rep. Ed Royce clearly sees himself as a stronger leader at a critical time for his party and the financial services industry.

While older baby boomers are entering retirement, younger boomers are struggling to prepare themselves for life beyond work and are trying to gain control of their financial futures.

Two different interpretations of this week's historic midterm elections emerged, with both sides competing to say how the vote would impact the financial services world.