Practice management

Bank of America Merrill Lynch is set to pay $2.5 million in restitution and fines after failing to provide discounts to customers on a certain type of redeemable security, the brokerage industry's primary regulator said on Wednesday.

Due to the current complexities surrounding various investment vehicles and their increased due diligence provisions, endowments and foundations are mulling over the possibility to implement an outsourced CIO model, a new SEI study claims.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is asking the Town of West Warwick, R.I. to fork over documents relating to its pension board’s previous actions.

High-frequency traders are “market jackals” and not market makers, in increasingly electronic markets, JonesTrading Institutional Services said in a White Paper released Tuesday.

Most prefer self-directed investing rather than "expensive" advisors, according to Spectrem Group.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has fined three firms $242,500 for municipal rules violations. They include $150,000 against Raymond James Financial Services for supervisory failures related to so-called 529 college savings plans it sold to clients.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority is being told by some compliance and financial reporting experts that its proposed requirement for broker-dealers to cough up more detailed and frequent financial reports could be too cumbersome and costly to follow.

Forty-two percent of 111,731 CFA candidates that took the exam passed in June.

Independent member firms of FINRA have landed seats on the regulator’s board.

"Hard Wired" program is designed to help advisors understand client behavior, construct portfolios and build their firms.

As advisor headcount continues to shrink, Cerulli suggests a strategy that might attract newcomers to an industry that’s tough to crack.

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association has asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to allow the use of "flash orders" in options markets.

The FDIC will soon post bi-weekly records of closed-door meetings it holds with bankers and other stakeholders regarding regulatory reform, the agency said Thursday.

Three-quarters oppose cutting Social Security to reduce the deficit as the government program celebrates its 75th anniversary.

The proposal, which would only apply to banks supervised by the agency, said institutions should give customers the chance to opt out of overdraft programs for their checking accounts and any automated clearing house transfers, as well as monitor overdraft usage to avoid unfair consumer fees.

New survey finds baby boomers are willing to spend less now in order to live the “good life” in retirement.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is looking at such mechanisms as price collars and limits on upward or downward movements in a stock in a single day, in the wake of the May 6th "flash crash."

Congressman Richard Neal, D-Mass., has introduced legislation that would allow companies to set up automatic payroll deposit Individual Retirement Accounts, or Auto IRAs, for workers who do not have access to employer-provided qualified pension plans.

Following a June swoon dive, U.S. pension plan funded statuses proved to replete some of their diminished assets thanks to a rising equity market, which returned nearly 7% last month, a new study claims.

No one knows what housing market reform — especially the reshaping of the government-sponsored enterprises — will look like, but Wall Street certainly is paying close attention to its impact on a kee source of fee income.