The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association wants the US Labor Department to hold back on putting out its expected proposed rule modifying its definition of fiduciary standard of care until the Securities and Exchange Commission decides whether it will put out its own standard for financial professionals. SIFMA is…
According to the Securities and Exchange Commission Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations Director Andrew J. Bowden, next year the regulator intends to examine about 4,000 registered investment financial advisors who have never been visited by its inspectors before. Bowden said that the agency will target about 50% of firms…
Precedo Capital Group and Continental Advisors SA are suing Twitter for secondary market fraud. The securities lawsuit comes right before the social networking company’s IPO, which is slated for this week. The investment advisor plaintiffs claim that Twitter promised them up to $289 million in shares through another financial firm…
The SEC has sanctioned registered investment advisory firms Further Lane Asset Management, Knelman Asset Management Group, and GW & Wade with violating the rules that obligate them to fulfill certain standards while keeping custody of the securities or funds of clients. The regulator says that all three firms either did…
10 Democrats in the US Senate are calling on the Obama Administration to delay a proposal by the Department of Labor involving retirement plan-related investment advice until after the SEC makes a decision over whether to put out its own proposal about retail investment advice. The Commission is looking at…
Dave Ramsey, a well-known radio host, recently got into a twitter war with fee-only financial advisers. The advisers had criticized the radio personality, who is also an author, for telling his readers to expect a 12% investment return and for promoting brokers who are commission-based. Ramsey hosts the popular “The…
The SEC has filed Texas securities fraud charges against Daniel Bergin, a Dallas-based Cushing MLP Asset Management LP senior equity trader. Bergin is accused of front running, insider trading, and failing to notify his employer of certain trades. According to the regulator, Bergin, who was a primary equity trader at…
According to Securities and Exchange Commissioner Luis Aguilar, the growing number of registered investment advisers, the increasing complexity of the financial instruments they use, and the recent trends in securities examinations show that there is a need for the regulator to up the vigorousness of its investment adviser examinations and…
The Securities and Exchange Commission has put out its request for information to help it decide whether to impose a uniform standard of care on both investment advisers and broker-dealers that give advice to retail customers. The comment period ends 120 days after the data request, which was issued on…
According to the Securities and Exchange Commission Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations, it discovered “significant deficiencies” related to custody issues with a third of the investment advisers that it examined, including: • Failure of an investment adviser to recognize when it has custody • Failure to satisfy the rule’s…