Estate planners have long recommended the purchase of a residence in Florida as a sound asset protection strategy. Florida's antiquated and unusually complex homestead provisions provide virtually impenetrable protection from creditors. A recent U...

So you thought the market timing scandal was over. Think again. While nearly all the mutual fund shops nabbed in the Eliot Spitzer-led trading investigation have settled with regulators, brokerage firms are still being put through the wringer for...

In keeping with regulators trying to be more proactive and less reactive, the SEC is cozying up to newly registered investment advisers. Have you received a “welcome letter?”

An NASD arbitration panel awarded a former Merrill Lynch broker $1.6 million for wrongful termination and defamation, claims he had filed against his former employer. The award included compensatory damages of $400,000 plus interest and punitive...

The securities industry is fighting tooth and nail to save 12b-1 fees. Exactly one month after the June 19 SEC roundtable convened to discuss the fate of 12b-1 fees, the securities industry’s lobby group, the Securities Industry and...

Merrill Lynch’s retail brokerage arm turned in another strong quarter, as fee-based revenue continued to climb to record levels. Merrill Lynch Global Private Client saw its revenues increase by 13 percent to $3.3 billion from $2.9 billion in...

Seems like NASD and NYSE regulation can’t catch a break. First it was Muslims, now it’s the Financial Planning Association that is unhappy with the merged regulatory bodies’ potential new name.

You’ve probably heard about Bear Stearns’ CEO Jimmy Cayne’s numerous golf outings in June—while his company’s hedge funds were tanking. You might have also heard that he tends to score in the high 90s, so it might not...

The regulatory body composed of the NYSE Regulation and the NASD Regulation, known for the past 5 weeks as SIRA, is getting another name.

Peter Wuffli was replaced as CEO of UBS last week after the firm realized millions of dollars in losses in an internal hedge fund, according to published reports. Marcel Roehner, who was previously deputy CEO and head of global wealth management...