SEC Chairman Arthur Levitt and Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) Chairman Edmund Jenkins came under political heat recently for pushing for a requirement that corporations mark their derivatives positions to the market and account for...
DALBAR, the Boston-based financial services rating firm, reports that investors don't much care if they see a written financial or investment plan. Rather, DALBAR says, consumers want their brokers to be well-versed with their particular financial...
PaineWebber is piloting a new recruitment program to lure 50-somethings and retirees into the brokerage business, an effort it hopes will reduce broker turnover and better serve the aging baby boomer market.The firm says it's aggressively looking...
The NASDR recently released its proposed U-5 immunity rule, which would give brokerage firms partial immunity for what they disclose on termination reports, as well as U-4s and other disclosure documents.According to proposed text of the rule, a...
The International Association for Financial Planning (IAFP), in a departure from past policy, is now calling for its members to become Certified Financial Planners."It's in the best interest of both the public and the profession that consumers be...
If you've been in the business fewer than 10 years, don't count on "graduating" from the industry's regulatory part of continuing education upon your 10-year anniversary.The Securities Industry/Regulatory Council on Continuing Education has...
When Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Discover changed the name of its Lombard discount brokerage unit to Discover Brokerage Direct, it caused some Dean Witter reps to wonder about how the unit would compete in the future.The reason for the name change...
Industry executives who worry that individual investors are forsaking the full-service sector can relax a bit, according to a recent study by Cerulli Associates, a Boston-based fund consultant.While investor fondness for lower cost products such...
Mergers and alliances, together with technology, is creating the best cross-marketing opportunities the industry has ever seen. But the question is, can firms leverage this opportunity into profit or will the complexities of cross-selling prove...
EVEREN reportedly is pushing its Mentor Funds, of which it is part owner, along with Wheat First Butcher Singer (now Wheat First Union). One rep reports the firm has been offering double credits and sales trips for the last year, with the intent...
