Blas Catalani, a former sales manager at Merrill Lynch’s San Antonio office, is suing a female ex-broker and her lawyer on grounds that the two women conspired to get him fired.

With the ink still drying on its deal to purchase Piper Jaffray’s brokerage arm, UBS announced today it will now buy Cleveland-based McDonald Investments, KeyCorp’s brokerage unit.

The New York Stock Exchange released second-quarter 2006 earnings data showing significant aggregate increases in revenues and profits for member firms today. But is the party winding down for brokerage firms?

The next few weeks may provide the perfect opportunity for meetings to discuss fourth-quarter strategies and preparations for a successful year’s end.

Today, an NASD Hearing Panel fined American Funds Distributors, “the principal underwriter and distributor of the shares of the American Fund family” (as the NASD describes AFD), for directed brokerage.

Executive long-term care insurance can be an attractive benefit both for the company offering it and the insured.

Separately managed accounts (SMAs)are no longer the new kids on the block, but they continue to grow at a steady pace. Assets in SMAs have nearly doubled over the past five years, to $774 billion

Prudential Equity Group, a broker/dealer subsidiary of Prudential Financial, got slammed Monday with one of the biggest settlements seen in a market timing case: $600 million in fines, restitution and penalties.

Earlier this month, a Bridgeport, Conn., judge slapped a temporary restraining order (TRO) on a pair of sibling reps after they ditched their jobs at Merrill Lynch’s Stamford branch to join Morgan Stanley.

Merrill Lynch has apparently decided it’s had enough of Hydie Sumner, a former broker who sued the firm successfully in 2004 for sexual discrimination.