Ever since those first gatherings under a buttonwood tree, the business of Wall Street has been highly social, with personal contacts, access to information and networking abilities playing a crucial role.

As more investors begin to believe that the global economy is in a recession, fears of inflation are dropping, and money managers are turning their concerns from credit risk to leverage.

The Security and Exchange Commission’s 30-day rule temporarily banning short selling of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae stock is set to expire Tuesday night.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has opened a website originally created for internal purposes at the Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations to fight anti-money laundering, for compliance officers at mutual funds.

The Securities and Exchange Commission could mandate the use of eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) in mutual fund risk return summaries by as early as the first quarter of next year, according to industry experts, putting many fund companies on the data-tagging fast track.

A Florida-based law team is working to help investors of the failed Charles Schwab YieldPlus Fund recuperate some of their losses.

After years of waiting to be compensated for damages done to their investment holdings by market timers and late traders, Janus investors will finally receive $100 million worth of restitution.

After months of vacancies, Chairman Christopher Cox finally has a full slate of commissioners to work with at the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Many companies have moved millions of dollars of obligations for executive benefits into pension plans of regular worker to acquire greater tax breaks and pay for executives’ supplemental compensation and benefits, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Troy A. Paredes was sworn in Friday afternoon as the newest commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission by SEC Chairman Christopher Cox.

The Securities and Exchange Commission issued guidance last week for fund boards of directors in assessing their firm’s soft-dollar practices. The SEC said it was issuing the guidance a full two years after the limitations it put on soft dollars in 2006, restricting it only to research, due to rapidly evolving market and trading practices. True enough, there are wide discrepancies among brokerages today, due to rapidly evolving markets, trading practices and electronic crossing networks. Fund companies have until Oct. 1 to comment on the SEC’s guidance.

WASHINGTON — The Investment Company Institute last Monday urged the Securities and Exchange Commission to expand its proposed credit rating agency rules on structured products to include municipal securities, and to increase the secondary market disclosure requirements for the municipal market.

NEW YORK - A lot of people are wondering when the U.S. will adopt the same international standards for financial reporting that Europe and the rest of the world seem to be moving toward.

Massachusetts sued Merrill Lynch on July 31 on the charges of fraud and “dishonest and unethical” conduct, Reuters reports.

Luis A. Aguilar, a former partner at McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP in Atlanta, was sworn in as a member of the Securities and Exchange Commission on July 31.

U.S. junk bond mutual funds saw net inflows of $153 million in the week ending July 30, according to AMG Data Services.

U.S. Rep. George Miller of California is probably the best friend 401(k) investors have on Capitol Hill.

Despite market opposition, Argentina recently cut tax breaks for mutual funds and financial trusts, satisfying the center-left government promise to raise taxes on financial earnings, Reuters reports.

Pax World Management Corporation has settled charges by the Securities and Exchange Commission that two of its funds, Pax World Growth and Pax World High Yield, purchased securities that violated their fund policies.

Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox and US Secretary of Labor Elaine L Choa have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to formalize and strengthen the cooperation and relationship between their two agencies. The purpose of the MOU is to share information, related to investments and retirement, to help protect Americans’ $5.8 trillion in retirement assets.