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.
Smith Barney is facing a new round of sex-discrimination suits. A quartet of financial consultants from California has filed a national class-action lawsuit against the firm in a San Francisco federal court. The suit alleges systemic sexual...
Q: Many firms use third-party investment research to cover companies their own analysts don't or to supply a second opinion. As part of these arrangements, the firms often enter into contractual agreements with unregistered third parties. The...
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...
