RBC Dain Rauscher is continuing its recent streak of acquisitions, part of an effort by Canadian parent Royal Bank of Canada to build a bigger presence in the lucrative U.S. wealth management market. Dain announced today plans to acquire Ferris...

The SEC voted today to propose changes to the structure of the Form ADV, the disclosure document that all investment advisers must complete. Instead of the current online check-the-box format, investment advisers would need to create a narrative...

You’ve heard of the “Bull Markets, Bear Knees” theory. It goes like this: When you want to know which way the equity market is headed, watch the direction of women’s dresses. In the late 19th century and early part of the...

Brokers are bitter—and for good reason. Since the sub-prime slaughter began this summer, many of those at Merrill Lynch, Smith Barney, Morgan Stanley and the other wirehouse firms, have seen their net worth, tied up largely in deferred stock...

Corporate Trustees Beware Disappointed heirs lose their case against a bank -- but look at how much convincing the court needed By Samantha Weissbluth, senior counsel and Erika Alley, associate, Foley & Lardner, LLP, Chicago A recent Minnesota...

As if banks needed any more bad press: Wachovia Corp. is in the hot seat for shady deals it allegedly had doing business with telemarketers accused of stealing hundred of millions of dollars.

Morgan Stanley announced plans this week to sell its Spanish brokerage- and asset- management business to La Caixa, a Spanish financial-services firm, for $885 million

There are many benefits that top financial advisors (producing $1 million or more a year) receive when moving to a new firm. The most obvious is a handsome transition package of 220 percent or more of trailing production (over a 3-year period)...

Financial firms have written down more than $100 billion in capital (at the time of this writing). And, the destruction of capital is expected to spread now that some bond insurers seem to be on the lip of insolvency. Not to pick on our friends at...

Maybe Merrill Lynch CEO John Thain just wanted to test his audience. At an investment conference today, Thain said that Merrill would abandon CDO underwriting and other structured-credit businesses, the very ones that led to the subprime meltdown...