In 1999, the securities industry will sponsor a pilot program allowing a target of 100 customer cases in the next two years to go to arbitration at independent forums, such as the American Arbitration Association (AAA), as an alternative to the...

In a closely watched case involving Merrill Lynch, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston ruled in December that a former Merrill rep can proceed to court with an age discrimination and sexual harassment case. But the 58-page...

Former Kidder Peabody reps who stayed on with PaineWebber after the 1994 buyout are now free to roam about the country. In January, their four-year forgivable loans expired, removing one golden handcuff that may have kept some at the firm...

Merrill Lynch's recent foray into providing online research via its "Ask Merrill" Internet service has prompted at least one competitor, Salomon Smith Barney, to consider doing something similar."Merrill's move is obviously going to open up a part...

Brokers at most major firms will see little change in how they're paid this year. Brokers at Merrill Lynch and PaineWebber, though, have new compensation plans that deliver a strong message: Adapt to fee-based business or die.Merrill reps in 1999...

Last month, the SEC concluded its nearly five-year-old investigation of widespread price-fixing and manipulation on Nasdaq. Twenty-eight firms and 51 individuals were cited and fined a total of $26 million.But top industry execs are off the hook...

Spot reviews by provincial securities commissions in Canada have found that some mutual fund companies and dealers are ignoring recently enacted sales practice rules.Last May, national regulations went into effect banning such practices as...

The NASD is worried that brokers are playing a game of "regulatory arbitrage"--giving up their securities licenses to become investment advisers (IAs) and thereby sidestepping strict SRO oversight for lax adviser supervision. In response, the SRO...

PaineWebber has taken a step in the direction of Merrill Lynch by allowing discrimination and harassment claims filed after Jan. 1, 1999, to be resolved in court or an independent arbitration forum. However, all other employment disputes will...

Predispute arbitration agreements took another blow when the Supreme Court decided that a shipping employee could not be forced to arbitrate a disability discrimination claim.In a 9-0 decision in Wright v. Universal Maritime Service, the court...