Don't expect the CFP Board of Governors to make quick, irrational decisions any time soon. It learned its lesson. The hard way.After a survey showed 80 percent of CFP licensees wanted the Associate CFP designation dropped, the CFP board relented...

The National Association of Investment Professionals (NAIP) is filing a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission claiming online discounter ads are deceptive and unfair.The NAIP's attorney, William MacLeod, a partner at Collier Shannon Rill &...

The number of U.S. citizens living overseas is growing by leaps and bounds, and constitutes a unique market for reps.Employees on job assignments abroad have a U.S. tax exemption of $74,000 this year, and mayalso have a living allowance, leaving...

So, your branch manager is a cheapskate, a penny-pincher and a real tightwad when it comes to spending money on you. Here are a few suggestions on how to loosen those purse strings, offered by speakers at the National Association of Securities...

Merrill Lynch brokers aren't the only ones suffering from commission-cut anxiety. Over at Prudential Securities, President and CEO Hardwick Simmons says he has taken steps--including providing brokers with "transitional compensation"--to help ease...

An arbitration panel has awarded the former manager of Salomon Smith Barney's branch in Providence, R.I., more than 1.9 million dollars in damages.Branch manager Richard Morsilli says he was ousted in April 1998 after SSB officials told him they...

You want to make a good impression with clients, so you upgrade your wardrobe, polish your speaking skills and refine your mannerisms. But what about your office? What does it say about you?Your furnishings, desk, knickknacks and filing system all...

Merrill Lynch has opened a new Retirement Services Office to help its financial consultants and other employees ease into retirement.A firm spokesperson tells RR the Retirement Services Office was recently added to the human resources department...

A new player is emerging in the financial services industry. Several "consolidator" firms are buying up independent financial advisers and promising to deliver some of the efficiencies and camaraderie of a traditional firm-as well as facilitate an...

In August, the SEC and the New York County District Attorney's Office fined Bear Stearns 35 million dollars over the firm's role in clearing for defunct penny stock firm A.R. Baron. Bear Stearns settled without admitting guilt in the allegations...