Feb 7, 2012
By Diana Britton
New rules on state registration, Form ADV and charges for audits have plenty of smaller dually registered reps rethinking the hybrid advisor model. ...
Jan 24, 2012
By Diana Britton
Much of the talk at the Financial Services Institute’s OneVoice 2012 conference in Orlando is about the challenge independent broker/dealers face by allowing advisors to have their own registered investment advisor. During a Tuesday panel session, IBD executives said the RIA model was putting pressure on their recruiting, profitability and expense of compliance. ...
Jan 1, 2012
By Jerry Gleeson
With growing regulatory burdens looming, more and more RIAs are outsourcing compliance....
Jan 1, 2012
By Diana Britton
Dec 15, 2011
By Kristen French and Diana Britton
The highly politicized industry battle over who will oversee investment advisers—SEC, the government regulator, or FINRA, a privately run group—heated up Thursday as Boston Consulting Group, an independent research firm, issued a report on an important piece of the debate that has been missing until now: how much each option will cost. ...
Dec 1, 2011
By Kristen French
Dec 1, 2011
By Bill Singer
I typically advise my clients to undertake a serious “cold review” of all previously cited problem areas and deficiencies when preparing for their next regulatory exam. ...
Dec 1, 2011
By Pat Huddleston
FAs can be vulnerable. ...
Nov 29, 2011
By Diana Britton
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority continues its crackdown on the sale of troubled private placements, filing sanctions against eight firms and 10 individuals Tuesday and ordering them to pay restitution to investors. According to FINRA, the firms failed to conduct adequate due diligence, and did not have reasonable grounds for recommending the securities. ...
Nov 8, 2011
By Jerry Gleeson
Advisors who sold auction rate securities are finding disclosures on their records in the wake of client complaints after the investments froze in 2008. How much blame should advisors shoulder? And what will be the next product to fail?...
Nov 4, 2011
By John Aidan Byrne
Despite the compliance hurdles, more than one third of financial advisors see direct handling of clients’ assets by FAs acting as their portfolio managers clearly outpacing other fee-based management styles in the next three years, according to a new survey by the Aite Group. ...
Nov 1, 2011
By Bill Singer
To avoid looking foolish to a customer, the rep makes a terrible choice....
Nov 1, 2011
By Kristen French
Oct 17, 2011
By Patrick J. Burns
Often times, when you leave a place of employment for greener pastures it is not the most amicable separation. Usually, feelings of resentment and betrayal materialize regardless of the culture or climate existing beforehand. ...
Oct 6, 2011
By Andrew J. Haigney
The brokerage business is dead. With commission rates hovering around zero, making a living by buying and selling securities on behalf of customers is a thing of the past. Some brokers are reinventing themselves as investment advisers within brokerage firms, but many are fleeing brokerage firms and landing at registered investment advisory firms (RIAs)....
Oct 1, 2011
By John Kador
If you have something to say, a strong voice and the time for it, blogging is a great way to attract new clients and deepen relationships with existing ones. Here are some tips on doing it right. ...
Oct 1, 2011
By Bill Singer
Just another day in the life of FINRA's arbitration forum....
Oct 1, 2011
By Stan Luxenberg
A new ETF from PIMCO and changes in fiduciary rules seem poised to push more advisors away from load funds....
Oct 1, 2011
By Diana Britton
Sep 22, 2011
By John Aidan Byrne
Financial advisors at the U.S. brokerage arm of UBS, which is reeling from a
$2.3 billion trading scandal, have been told by their CEO Bob McCann that the “situation is frustrating and unacceptable...
Sep 13, 2011
By Kristen French
It’s impossible to know what the sum of the day’s testimonies, questions and comments will lead to, especially considering that whatever bill emerges would need to also pass a Democrat-controlled Senate. Whatever the outcome, it’s likely to be drawn out, but some compromises may be getting made. ...
Sep 9, 2011
By Diana Britton
Considered a win for independent broker/dealers and their advisors, the California state Senate passed a bill Thursday night that tightens rules governing independent contractor status but omits onerous paperwork requirements. The bill now moves on to Gov. Jerry Brown for signing. ...
Sep 1, 2011
By Jerry Gleeson
Compliance conundrums are growing in the minds of financial advisors mulling independence. An Aite Group survey last spring found that 53 percent saw...
Sep 1, 2011
By Bill Singer
One FINRA arbitrator gets an expungement request right....
Aug 30, 2011
By Kristen French
The House of Representatives Financial Services Committee’s capital markets subcommittee plans to hold a hearing on Sept. 13 on the regulation of broker/dealers and investment advisers. ...
