Practice management

Investment advisers may face tough compliance issues in the wake of the Securities and Exchange Commission's unanimous adoption last week of rules designed to prevent IAs from making political contributions to elected officials to obtain business from state and local pension funds, investment pools and college-savings accounts.

Sen. Maria Cantwell announced late Thursday that she intends to support regulatory reform, giving a boost to the bill's prospects in the Senate, which plans to take up the legislation later this month when Congress returns from a Fourth of July recess.

WASHINGTON — The Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday unanimously adopted rules designed to prevent investment advisers from making political contributions to elected officials to obtain business from state and local pension funds, investment pools and college savings accounts.

Bankers and some lawmakers reacted with a mix of uncertainty and outrage on Wednesday after the conference committee opted to raise deposit insurance premiums on large institutions in an effort to pay the costs of the regulatory reform bill.

The House passed a mammoth financial reform bill late Wednesday 237 to 192, sending the bill to the Senate, which is not expected to act until later this month.

Even though the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board technically lost a Supreme Court ruling Monday, the board is likely to emerge stronger now that the element of uncertainty has been removed.

In an emergency session to salvage wayward votes and put regulatory reform legislation back on track, House and Senate conferees agreed late Tuesday to strip a proposed bank tax from the bill and add other budget offsetting mechanisms in its place.

Federal regulators would spend months, if not years, implementing the sweeping changes to the municipal market that were outlined in the financial regulatory reform legislation finalized by House and Senate negotiators late last week.

The Securities and Exchange Commission said it effected an "emergency asset freeze" against a "purported fund manager" by the name of Daniel Spitzer, based in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The Governmental Accounting Standards Board has updated its standards for the reporting of certain financial instruments and external investment pools by government entities.

While the House is still expected to pass the final bill soon, it was unclear when the Senate would act, or whether Democrats still had enough support to enact it.

The Supreme Court ruled against the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board in a 5-4 decision, finding that the way board members are appointed is unconstitutional.

While some financial companies worry about the ramifications of the sweeping financial reform that is set to pass, asset managers won’t feel the heat.

The reform bill that was agreed upon by House and Senate conferees today is not likely to resolve what activities get split off from banks and how other specifics of its provisions get implemented, financial industry executives said Friday.

Those looking for clear winners and losers after the conference committee struck a historic final agreement early Friday on regulatory reform legislation are bound to be frustrated.

After a week of fierce wrangling, the House and Senate reach a shaky compromise over fiduciary bill.

After a marathon final day of debate, the regulatory reform process ended in the early hours of Friday in the same dramatic manner it had been conducted for more than a year: with a near breakdown followed eventually by a miraculous save.

A lack of investor confidence in the market has triggered advisors to work feverishly to strenghten client retention techniques over acquiring new customers.

The regional continued its hiring spree with the addition of Jarrett Kovics as senior vice president and branch manager of its Dallas office.

The demand for passion investments among high-net-worth investors are expected to increase this year, according to Merrill’s World Wealth Report