Like the English railing their queen for lacking emotion upon the death of Princess Diana, some reps are criticizing EVEREN CEO James Borris, who they believe hasn't shown enough grief over reducing broker pay while he reportedly raked in a...
A joke among newer reps goes, "If you scored higher than 70% on the Series 7, you studied too hard." The upshot: Study just enough to get by--it's not worth the time.Whether it's the 7, the 63, the 65--or any host of other industry tests--reps...
A former Prudential Securities broker in Miami has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison and ordered to forfeit $250,000 for his role in laundering drug money. Some believe the case could trigger greater scrutiny of money laundering in the...
As of press time in early September, Dean Witter was set to launch its mutual fund wrap program--the last of the wirehouses to do so.Brokers at the firm report that Dean Witter has been holding meetings on the new program, and a roll-out appeared...
Forget everything you've learned about IRAs and retirement plans over the last few years. With the stroke of a pen, the rules have been turned upside down. There are now no fewer than four different kinds of IRAs, complete with rules for moving...
Dean Witter now has a multiclass structure on its funds, offering A, B, C and D shares with various sales charges and fee arrangements on 37 of the firm's proprietary funds.The firm previously had offered only B shares on these funds. The change...
Merrill Lynch is in the process of settling a class-action lawsuit that was filed on behalf of 300,000 investors who allegedly lost more than $600 million in Merrill's short-term global funds.The suit was filed in 1993 by lead plaintiffs' attorney...
Capital gains cut to 20%. Hold an investment 18 months and pay a lowly 20% tax on the gain.If it were only that simple. The new tax is retroactive to May 6, 1997, so anything held more than 18 months and sold after that date gets the 20% rate...
The NASDR is seeking comment on a pilot program it's run since January 1996 requiring temporary restraining order (TRO) cases to proceed to an expedited arbitration hearing.Firms sometimes seek the restraining order, or injunction, against brokers...
Smith Barney brokers who want a crack at the accounts of departing brokers are being asked to sign a one-page "account referral agreement."The agreement stipulates that any accounts that are reassigned from a departing broker belong to the firm...
