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 1, 2012
By Jerry Gleeson
With growing regulatory burdens looming, more and more RIAs are outsourcing compliance....
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 2, 2011
By Diana Britton
Tampa, Fla.-based Calton & Associates, an independent broker/dealer with over $2 billion in assets, has recently ramped up its marketing and recruiting efforts after flying under the radar for the last 25 years. The firm plans to build itself up through mergers and acquisitions with smaller b/ds as well as by bringing on new reps and RIAs....
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 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 Bill Singer
Just another day in the life of FINRA's arbitration forum....
Sep 19, 2011
By Kristen French
The Department of Labor announced Monday that it would reproprose its rule on the application of the fiduciary standard to retirement accounts. The announcement came after House Financial Services Committee ranking member Barney Frank sent a letter to the DOL last Thursday requesting that it withdraw and re-propose the rule. The DOL has received several letters from Congressman urging it to work with the Securities and Exchange Commission on its fiduciary rulemaking but until now, it had not responded. ...
Sep 15, 2011
By Kristen French
SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro said Thursday that legislation introduced by Republicans to restructure the agency and its rulemaking process would threaten the agency’s ability to write and enforce rules effectively. She also said that the SEC is already working on some reforms recommended by the Boston Consulting Group in the report it issued in March. Schapiro made the remarks in written and spoken testimony during a hearing in the House Financial Services committee on SEC reform. ...
Sep 14, 2011
By Andrew J. Haigney
The fiduciary standard is a sideshow for b/ds. They’re really worried about being unable to self-regulate when they formally step into the investment advisory world. That’s why FINRA wants to take the job from the SEC....
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 8, 2011
By Kristen French and Diana Britton
The House proposed draft legislation Thursday that would allow one or more SROs to oversee all investment advisers. The bill was trotted out by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Spencer Bacchus in advance of a Sept. 13 hearing to review provisions of Dodd-Frank that govern the regulation of broker/dealers and investment advisers, including the SRO issue as well as extension of fiduciary duty to brokers and broker/dealers. ...
Aug 30, 2011
By Amy Burroughs
As the baby boomer generation ages, the number of people with Alzheimer’s will climb: an estimated 16 million are expected to suffer from the disease by 2050, up from 5.4 million today, according to the Alzheimer’s Association. One early sign of the disease is trouble managing money, which puts financial advisors on the front lines....
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. ...
Aug 4, 2011
Expect these people to change your world in the next 12 months....
Aug 1, 2011
By Diana Britton
A recent bill that surfaced in California may result in some independent contractors being reclassified as employees. Could the IBD model be under threat?...
Aug 1, 2011
By Jerry Gleeson
Industry observers say many financial advisors are unaware of changes to come. It could haunt them if clients get burned....
Aug 1, 2011
By Bill Singer
Many supposedly sophisticated professionals fail to stay on top of their estate planning....
Jul 25, 2011
By Diana Britton
Many IBDs have been going under due to large liabilities they face related to alternative investments that have gone bust, including Medical Capital, Provident and DBSI. Meadowbrook is the latest to join the list of imploding firms. Other IBDs, such as Securities America, are being sold off, providing an opportunity for larger firms looking to acquire. ...
Jul 25, 2011
By Lena S. Rizkallah, JD
Almost a year after the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“the Act”) was signed, advisors are still unclear about how the provisions in it will affect the financial industry...
Jul 15, 2011
By Kristen French
SIFMA sent a letter to the SEC Thursday that recommends a new fiduciary standard that would be more rules-based and that would depend on individual client contracts for its application. ...
Jul 12, 2011
By Kristen French
Under an SEC order issued today, it will require considerably more wealth or assets for an investor to qualify to pay an investment adviser performance fees. The higher thresholds, mandated by Dodd-Frank reform, are meant to take inflation into account and will go into effect September 19. ...
Jul 8, 2011
By Diana Britton
With small independent broker/dealers blowing up left and right, it’s become that much more important to know what kind of compliance regime your firm has and who your colleagues are. ...
Jul 6, 2011
By Diana Britton
Independent broker/dealer American Beacon Partners was shut down in May by its parent holding company Beacon Acquisition Partners (BAP), which then conducted a mass transfer of the IBD’s 90 reps to another of its subsidiaries, Allied Beacon. ...
Jul 1, 2011
By Bill Singer
Earnest Flowers III hit all the bumpers and set off all the regulatory bells...
Jul 1, 2011
By Kristen French
Call it the Madoff effect. The SEC is still reeling from the discovery of the giant decades-long Ponzi scheme that Bernie Maddoff and his helpers pulled off, and trying to put rules in place to make sure it doesn't ever happen again...
Jun 29, 2011
By Kristen French
Raymond James on Thursday agreed to a multi-state settlement that will require the firm to buy back $300 million in auction rate securities (ARS) it sold to clients prior to the collapse of the ARS market in February of 2008...
