If a recent SEC staff report is any indication, it may not be long before hedge fund investment professionals are regulated as heavily as their brethren at brokerage firms. The Sept. 2003 report, entitled Implications of the Growth of Hedge Funds...
Morgan Stanley recently lost two arbitration cases with former brokers, resulting in million-dollar awards for the disgruntled reps. The arbitration panels found Morgan Stanley to have wrongfully terminated the brokers in both cases. One of the...
This story begins with an illusionist but one whose audience would be none too pleased to unravel the secret behind his act. The deceiver in question (we liked to call him Hunter Simpson) was a high-flying producer at a regional firm where I...
ANASD rule change destined to take effect later this year would have the unintended consequence of making it harder for investors to obtain the redress they seek against brokers. Indeed, proposed Rule 2130, which would prohibit the expungement of...
Things You Won't Hear at the Martha Stewart Trial Boy, with all this fuss, you'd think I was accused of selling shares or something. Mr. Fanueil, the court would like to remind you that you may not refer to yourself as and please do not call the...
Q: I've been a Morgan Stanley registered rep for 19 years. Lately, with the new push on account fees for everything, sometimes clients don't pay. Firms charge the broker for the fee and deduct it from the broker's paycheck. By law, I'm not allowed...
Canada has a long history as a haven for prescription-drug bargain hunters, for instance, and for draft-dodgers. Soon, we might well add American investors to that list of shelter seekers. A number of Canadian investment vehicles most notably...
When President Bush revealed his latest budget in early February, he included in it a pet proposal for several new tax-advantaged savings accounts. Many financial services analysts doubt the plan will be approved, at least in its current form. But...
One of Merrill Lynch's 10 regional managing directors, who report directly to senior management at the firm, has announced his retirement. Guy Williams, the Costa Mesa, Calif.-based regional director for southern California and the frontier region...
With scandals continuing to dominate the news and broker/dealers under more fire from the investing public, it come as little surprise that arbitration figures rose again in 2003. According to the NASD, 2003 brought more arbitrations than any year...