Practice management

After a heated debate, the regulatory reform conference committee agreed late Thursday to scale back a provision of the bill that would eliminate the use of trust-preferred securities as Tier 1 capital.

Surveys of wealthy investors show common themes of concern, optimism and a need for guidance from financial advisors.

The Securities and Exchange Commission Wednesday accused the former owner of Taylor Bean & Whitaker with orchestrating a massive equity and MBS fraud tied to his firm's warehouse borrowings from Colonial Bank, a depository it tried to take control of last summer using Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) money.

Regulatory reform conferees tussled Wednesday over provisions that would allow the Government Accountability Office more power to audit the Federal Reserve Board, give shareholders a nonbinding vote on compensation and strengthen investor protections.

The Senate has the advantage in conference committee, but advocates have allies there, too.

House conferees debating financial regulatory reform legislation today are expected to vote on amendments that would require the Securities and Exchange Commission to register and regulate municipal financial advisers, replacing Senate language that would give such regulatory authority to the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board.

More than 7.3 million older Americans — one out of every five citizens over the age of 65 — already have been victimized by a financial swindle, according to a new survey.

Lawmakers unexpectedly added an overhaul of the deposit insurance system to the final regulatory reform legislation on Tuesday, adding sweeping provisions that were not part of either the House or Senate revamp bills.

The four wirehouses are starting to sweeten the pot to retain financial advisors.

Improvement in investor confidence is borne out in a survey that finds 36% of investors expect their advisers will be able to navigate them to profits in any market environment.

Robert L. Reynolds, the company’s president and chief executive officer, said he thinks there are a range of opportunities for Putnam to develop products for Boomers “as they age and the need for lifetime income solutions becomes more evident.”

While coping with the flash crash and regulatory reform, the SEC's "new sheriff in town" paused for an interview Monday evening with CNBC's Maria Bartiromo.

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association Monday said the creation of a system of monitoring overall risks to the nation's financial industry could take one of eight forms, each of which would be costly.

A lot of wealth management firms are unprofitable so-called lifestyle practices, according to a report by Fiduciary Network.

More than 3,000 unwitting Canadians were fleeced of their retirement investments by four Canadians and two Florida men. The SEC's Denver office brought them in.

Survey results show some producers are using social media, but say it’s not generating new business.

A fight is brewing over which agency should replace the soon-to-be-eliminated Office of Thrift Supervision on the board of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. While the House regulatory reform bill would give that seat to the Federal Reserve Board, the Senate's version would assign it to the proposed consumer protection bureau.

The $5 billion earmarked by Congress for early retirees is supposed to be available through 2014.

The regulatory reform conference committee officially kicked off Thursday, and while the final fate of key provisions remains up in the air, it is clear senators have several advantages over their House counterparts.

According to a survey by TD Ameritrade Institutional, 68% of independent advisors increased their roster of clients over the last six months, up 13% from the previous quarter.