Proposed IRS regulations that affect trusts and estates would carry with them a host of ills — including more trust fees for beneficiaries, additional work for financial advisers and increased client exposure to the alternative minimum tax — advisers and industry experts say.
WASHINGTON — Estate planning lawyers are increasingly worried that Congress may not act on estate tax reform before the estate tax repeal expires at the end of 2010.
As the first anniversary of the Pension Protection Act approaches, financial advisers remain wary of target date mutual funds.
It’s FINRA, and it’s final. But the name of the self-regulatory organization formed by the consolidation of NASD’s and the New York Stock Exchange’s regulatory units is drawing a new wave of criticism.
IRVINE, Calif. — The Wealth Advisor Institute is calling for reform of the broker-termination-reporting process.
The SEC approved a new accounting standard that would lower costs on Sarbanes-Oxley compliance.
A bill that would increase 401(k) disclosure should be put on hold, according to the American Benefits Council.
The first bipartisan House version of the National Insurance Act of 2007 was reintroduced today.
The Department of Labor has rejected a proposal by the insurance industry to include stable-value funds as a default option for 401(k) plans, according to industry sources.
WASHINGTON — Washington early this month became the third state to move toward regulating adviser designations when it issued two concept releases asking for public comments on the issue.
CHICAGO — While the Department of Labor has yet to issue final regulations on default options for 401(k) plans, many companies are jumping ahead and incorporating a qualified default investment alternative into their retirement plans.
Some brokerage firms are miffed about higher registration fees that Florida implemented this month, and blame the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association for not doing enough to stop the increases.
A proposal to provide tougher qualification standards for investing in hedge funds and other alternative investments has proved to be so controversial that the Securities and Exchange Commission may have to alter the plan or scrap it altogether.
IRVINE, Calif. — An SEC proposal to change how broker-dealers can invest customer reserve funds has come under attack from a variety of industry interests.
SAN FRANCISCO — A small company is betting that it can turn defined benefit plans into a mainstream product for financial advisers to sell.
Mutual funds will now be subject to a new rule that prohibits fraud in hedge funds and other private investment pools.
On the heels of the federal appeals court decision rejecting fee-based brokerage accounts, brokers are facing yet another challenge from consumer advocates who are questioning whether 12(b)-1 fees are being used illegally.
SAN FRANCISCO — The U.S. economy has some shaky elements, but Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s track record still is rock solid, according to financial advisers, chief economists and other executives in the investments industry.
OTTAWA — In a confusing compromise, federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty and his peers from the provinces and territories agreed last Tuesday that the feds would set up a panel to study the creation of a single Canadian securities regulator.
WASHINGTON — Disclosures of 12(b)-1 fees should be made clearer and easier to decipher, but the fees themselves should not be abolished, officials from the mutual fund and brokerage industries said at a Securities and Exchange Commission round table last week.
