Regulatory reform

Brokerages have until June 26 to decide if they want to take part in a pilot program allowing them to continue inspecting their branch office remotely; plus, the rundown on residential supervisory locations

Difficulties loom over syncing U.S. stock exchanges with global transaction cycles.

The financial industry regulator contends firms are unnecessarily sounding the alarm that new policies will require going into the office five days a week.

Brokerages and industry lawyers say the conduct standard's key provision is its requirement that advisors consider alternatives to risky and expensive investments.

A newly proposed rule would require firms to verify customers' ID information and check it against government lists of terrorists and criminals.

The banking giant has already settled two other similar disputes with regulators.

Advisor advocates say they are beginning to look to civil courts and other FINRA alternatives to get erroneous customer complaints removed from their clients' online records.

The prohibition would be on most contract provisions meant to keep emplolyees from taking jobs with competitors.

The ban comes after the Wall Street regulator's imposition of nearly $3 billion on fines for failing to track and record communications sent on messaging apps.

Having hit most of the big Wall Street firms with hefty fines for misusing WhatsApp and similar services, regulators are now turning their attention to independent advisors.