Registered Rep. Staff

While noting that the NASD has made substantial progress in complying with its remedial sanctions ordered last year in its settlement with the SEC, independent consultant Frederick Werblow has advised the NASD to...

Merrill Lynch is in the process of settling a class-action lawsuit that was filed on behalf of 300,000 investors who allegedly lost more than $600 million in Merrill's short-term global funds.The suit was filed in...

The NASDR is seeking comment on a pilot program it's run since January 1996 requiring temporary restraining order (TRO) cases to proceed to an expedited arbitration hearing.Firms sometimes seek the restraining order...

Smith Barney brokers who want a crack at the accounts of departing brokers are being asked to sign a one-page "account referral agreement."The agreement stipulates that any accounts that are reassigned from a...

Wheat First reps seem positive after the Aug. 20 announcement that their firm will be acquired by Charlotte, N.C.-based First Union Corp., the nation's sixth largest bank.The acquisition was billed by both Wheat First...

Firms can settle customer complaints, report the settlement on a broker's record, and even come after a rep's assets to pay for it--all without the broker's consent.What's more, although states disclose customer...

When Morgan Stanley and Dean Witter Discover announced their merger this year, many on Wall Street speculated about a possible culture clash between a white-shoe investment-banking firm and its new "9-to-5" retail...

A state court judge in late August dismissed a proposed class-action lawsuit accusing two managers and eight brokers at Merrill Lynch's main Baltimore office of cheating investors.Judge Joseph H.H. Kaplan did not say...