Regulation and Compliance issues for Wealth Professionals can be challenging to navigate especially when the SEC is involved. Catch the latest news and analysis on compliance updates that impact financial advisors.
When the SEC ruled in April to re-propose the so-called Merrill Exemption, permitting Series 7 licensees to continue to call themselves financial advisors, thousands of reps and their firms heaved a sigh of relief. Technically, a Series 7 license...
If legal filings are a leading indicator of the amount of trouble a particular industry is in, the securities industry can start to breathe a bit easier According to the NASD, the number of new case filings dropped by 8 percent, to 8,201, in 2004...
Eva Yee May Sung forged the signatures of public customers and a branch manager on forms authorizing Sung to become the new representative of certain brokerage accounts. OK, now, no peeking what sanction do you think the NASD imposed on Sung when...
Any rep or branch office manager who has been disciplined by the NASD can attest to the organization's zealous dedication to enforcement. However, a recent SEC report shows that the NASD is far less enthusiastic about policing itself despite the...
One of the few aspects of the securities industry to escape significant regulatory intervention so far is the sale of variable annuity products. But that is about to change. The NASD, responding to a complaint filed by the Massachusetts Securities...
Arbitrations are designed to be the final word in disputes between investors and the firms and reps that serve them. Thus, it is not surprising that when an NASD arbitration panel hands down a ruling, it measures its words carefully. Very...
An NASD arbitration panel ordered Merrill Lynch to pay more than $1 million to investors Gary and Lisa Friedman last month for hiding conflicts of interest and issuing fraudulent research. According to the award, the panel found Merrill guilty of...
If you're a fiduciary and don't want to get sued and fined pay close attention to litigation expert Dominic J. Campisi. Campisi, a partner in the San Francisco law firm of Evans Latham and Campisi, has been defending fiduciaries for about three...
When the Wall Street research scandal drew to its close last July as the SEC exacted a global settlement from the top investment banks many reps wondered how it would change their lives. In addition to coughing up a total of $875 million in fines...