A state court judge in late August dismissed a proposed class-action lawsuit accusing two managers and eight brokers at Merrill Lynch's main Baltimore office of cheating investors.Judge Joseph H.H. Kaplan did not say why he dismissed the complaint...
A federal judge in the Southern District Court of New York dismissed last June a $40 million lawsuit filed against the NASD that alleged the regulator had unfairly influenced a 1993 election for a seat on the NASD's board of governors.Alan...
While noting that the NASD has made substantial progress in complying with its remedial sanctions ordered last year in its settlement with the SEC, independent consultant Frederick Werblow has advised the NASD to further its efforts.In his first...
Financial services firms catering to the independent broker marketplace are being snapped up by larger broker/dealers looking for deeper sources of distribution.Denver-based Portfolio Management Consultants (PMC), the largest independent provider...
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...
