Regulatory reform

Instead, Chairman Jay Clayton should be looking for a quicker way for companies to move from private to public markets, and back.

Missouri legislators inadvertently passed a law that would outlaw the Certified Financial Planner credential.

Firms designated as “taping firms” due to the high number of brokers they hired from disciplined firms may soon have their status as taping firms disclosed in BrokerCheck.

Advancements in fintech, new products and a shifting regulatory environment are among industry executives' top concerns.

The court said the in-house SEC judge who handled Raymond Lucia’s case was a constitutional "officer," meaning he should have been directly appointed by the SEC.

The move is an early indication of how firms may react to the demise of the Labor Department regulation.

The regulation was dealt a fatal blow when a federal appeals court hearing a challenge to the rule by business groups vacated it in a split decision.

The regulator will save members tens of millions of dollars by helping them verify advisors’ Form U4 financial disclosures, Robert Cook says.

The departure might slow SEC Chairman Jay Clayton’s progress on creating stricter standards of conduct for brokers and advisors.

With the rescue attempt's failure, all eyes now turn to the SEC which is considering its own proposal for raising financial advisor standards of conduct.

Leading trade groups counter a request from AARP and three states for fiduciary rehearing, in hopes that the circuit court's rejection will be the last word on the regulation.

Critics say SEC efforts to regulate advisor titles could produce a game of whack-a-mole, as non-fiduciary financial professionals adopt other terms intended to blur lines.

FPA leaders say they are sounding out members and looking at where the proposals may fall short of needed investor protections.

The influential retiree advocacy group filed for a 17-judge review of the decision.

The regulator's proposal is set to remake compliance standards for brokers and advisors.

By requiring brokers to look out for clients’ best interests, the SEC is effectively requiring them to give financial advice, which distinguishes them from online brokers and should let them keep charging clients premium fees.

Jamie Price doesn’t expect the firm's advisors to have any problem with a new standard after taking steps to comply with the more restrictive DOL rule.

“The broker-dealer world has tried to hang their hat on suitability, and if you close your eyes a little and squint, they almost look like fiduciaries — but not really,” one advisor says.

If it's not uniform, and it's not a fiduciary standard, then it is at best a modest step forward, investor advocates say.

It appears the regulator bought into the investor choice argument of sales reps right from the beginning.