The hotly-debated and controversial question of “who owns the client” appears to have been answered by the NASD and the SEC: it’s the broker, not the firm. The NASD announced today it will bar member firms from blocking customers...

For years, delays in client account transfers have been a controversial issue. But the NASD has put an end to the debate, announcing today that it has adopted a new rule interpretation prohibiting "any NASD member firm from taking action that...

UBS PaineWebber brokers claim their firm's "flipping" policy of charging two times gross commissions when clients sell newly issued stock is "illegal" and that the firm "has never put it in writing." During the past 1 1/2 weeks, branch managers...

A.G. Edwards is reducing its workforce through voluntary retirement and attrition because of diminishing revenue, the firm announced today. Yet brokers will not be directly affected by the move, according to producers from the firm. The job cuts...

As Morgan Stanley's earnings continue to plummet, the firm's brokers are doing all they can to weather the market's storm mainly by maintaining their existing client base. "That's what I'm doing," says a Morgan Stanley West Coast-based producer...

Salomon Smith Barney has informed its brokers that it has eliminated bonus payments on annuity trails, Registered Rep. magazine has learned. The announcement on Tuesday by Paul Underwood, the firm’s director of the Private Client Division...

Salomon Smith Barney took another hit today as the Superior Court of the State of California "ordered" publication that the state became the fifth separate class-action lawsuit to be certified against the firm's Capital Accumulation Plan (CAP)...

Merrill Lynch’s well-publicized salary freeze is not as bad as it appears--at least for brokers. Because of Merrill’s new compensation plan that kicks in next month, fee-based brokers are celebrating raises at the same time other...

With the markets soaring this week, brokers across the country are expressing different views as to how they are approaching business. While one Merrill Lynch rep in the South says he’s “looking at this [market rally] as a chance to...

With the markets soaring this week, brokers across the country are expressing different views as to how they are approaching business. While one Merrill Lynch rep in the South says he’s “looking at this [market rally] as a chance to...