In a narrow 3-2 vote today, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has green lighted a provision that will give shareholders a say on the executive pay at companies they have a substantial stake in.

Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, now a unit of Bank of America, will pay $10 million to settle charges that it misused customer order information for its own proprietary trading in securities.

Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, now a unit of Bank of America, will pay $10 million to settle charges that it misused customer order information for its own proprietary trading in securities.

The Securities and Exchange Commission charged an Austin energy company with bribing a broker to manipulate the price of its stock.

Private fund advisors with more than $1 billion in assets under supervision have a greater need for monitoring, especially after lessons learned during the recent financial crisis, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Securities and Exchange Commission charged an Austin energy company with bribing a broker to manipulate the price of its stock.

The Securities and Exchange Commission reportedly is seeking documents from the Massachusetts’ Treasury Department in reference to its relationship with Goldman, Sachs & Co.

The Obama administration will not make its Jan. 31st deadline for proposing reforms to the government-sponsored enterprises, an administration official said Monday.

The SEC’s recommendation didn’t lay out a timeline or a framework, but now the ball is in motion, observers say.

A study released by the Securities and Exchange Commission Saturday has recommended that a single fiduciary standard be created for brokers and investment advisers.

The much-anticipated study found that many investors are confused about the roles of brokers and advisors and are unsure of their protections when they receive advice. The study recommended a new standard would simplify the client experience.

Is this really no big deal for bank advisors?

The number of securities lawsuits filed in 2010 increased, despite a drop in new suits related to the credit crisis, according to a new report.

The Securities and Exchange Commission charged three New York-based investment firms and four former senior officers with fraud, misuse of client assets and other securities laws violations, when they masked financial troubles within their $66 million advisory business.

Commission says FINRA is Congress’ best bet for policing advisors.

WASHINGTON — The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has censured and fined Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. $500,000 for failing to establish and maintain written supervisory procedures to ensure that its representatives considered customers’ state income-tax benefits in their suitability analyses of 529 college saving plans.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has fined BNY Mellon $24 million and has banned a former manager of institutional trading at Mellon Securities from associating with any broker-dealer firm after carrying out what it called an “eight-year best execution fraud.”

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority has censured and fined Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc. $500,000 for failing to establish and maintain written supervisory procedures to ensure that its representatives considered customers’ state income-tax benefits in their suitability analyses of 529 college saving plans.

Most regulations already cover financial planning activities, but designations need another look.

Eileen Rominger joins the securities regulator after spending the past 11 years working as the global CIO for Goldman Sachs Asset Management (