1. CFP Board Hires New Lobbyist Who Formerly Served As Senior Counsel To House Financial Services Committee
(Matching tags: regulation,SRO,registered investment advisors,CFP Board)

A former senior counsel to the House of Representatives Financial Services Committee has been named Director of Government Relations at the CFP Board of Standards. CFP Board hired Washington, ...

2. Underscoring Why The Financial Planning Coalition Is Headed In the Wrong Direction, 1,100 Advisors Attended AICPA’s Financial Planning Conference
(Matching tags: CFA,IMCA,FPA,profession,regulation,RIAs,SRO,financial planning,CFP Board,NAPFA,Dodd-Frank,fiduciaries)

With AICPA saying 1,100 advisors attended its financial planning conference this past week, the importance of CPA financial planners to the financial planning profession is self-evident, as is the unrealistic ...

3. FINRA Seems To Be Taking The Application Of Fiduciary Care To Broker-Dealers And Registered Reps Into Its Own Hands
(Matching tags: FINRA,fiduciaries,regulation,SRO)

FINRA has expanded its suitability rules in an effort to liken its oversight to a fiduciary level of governance. Industry participants are not excited about this expansion and feel that FINRA is attempting ...

4. Bachus-McCarthy Bill Exempts Those With Wealthier Clients, Leaving Small Firms To Bear The Bulk Of The Burden
(Matching tags: regulation,SRO,Congress,FINRA)

If you’ve thought that advisors are not expressing opposition to the Bachus-McCarthy bill and the idea of creating an SRO to oversee both brokers and independent advisors, you probably haven’t ...

5. FINRA As SRO Battle Heats Up As Industry Participants Form Lobbying Group
(Matching tags: FINRA,SRO,sec,regulation)

The regulatory fight is heating up against the designation of FINRA as the industry’s self-regulatory organization (SRO). A group of financial services firms including Schwab Advisor Services will ...

6. RIAs Don’t Seem To Care Very Much About The Regulatory Debate; Reaction To Last Week’s FINRA-SRO News Was Muted
(Matching tags: RIA compliance,RIAs,SRO,NAPFA,Congress,Dodd-Frank,fiduciaries,FINRA,sec)

When news broke last Wednesday about the reintroduction of legislation that would make FINRA the regulator of RIAs, all of the advisor trade publications covered the story. Financial Planning even issued ...

7. FINRA Reprimands A Member Of Its Own Board
(Matching tags: regulation,FINRA,SRO)

During the same week that a House bill was reintroduced by Financial Services Chairman Spencer Bacchus that could pave the way for FINRA to become the financial services industry’s self-regulatory ...

8. Bill To Make FINRA The SRO For RIAs Reintroduced, Sparking Protest In Some Quarters And Approval In Others
(Matching tags: regulation,RIAs,SRO,FINRA)

... create the SRO.   With reporter Melanie Waddell of AdvisorOne recently predicting that creation of the FINRA SRO was imminent, the reintroduction of the bill by Bachus sparked protest in some ...

9. FINRA Requests Comment On Ways To Increase Investor Use Of BrokerCheck: My Suggestion Is To Consolidate Advisor Licensing Databases And Open It To Search Engines
(Matching tags: RIAs,SRO,investment advisors,broker-dealers,compliance,Dodd-Frank,FINRA,sec)

FINRA is requesting comment on ways to boost investor use of BrokerCheck, the self-regulatory agency’s website where consumers can find a broker’s disciplinary and employment history.   ...

10. No Progress? 2011 Ends With The Same Regulatory Questions Advisors Were Facing 12 Months Ago
(Matching tags: Dodd-Frank,SRO)

SEC-registered advisors are closing out 2011 in almost exactly the same fundamental position as they started it: with minimum clarity on who will regulate them in the future.   In December 2010, ...

11. Sizing Up The Powerful Forces Aligned To Fight Making FINRA The SRO For RIAs
(Matching tags: RIAs,SRO,CFP Board,Dodd-Frank,FINRA,advisor industry people)

... the SRO for Registered investment Advisers.  ...

12. RIA Groups Release Study Saying FINRA Oversight Would Cost Twice As Much As Enhancing The SEC's Exam Program Of RIAs
(Matching tags: RIAs,SRO,compliance,Dodd-Frank,FINRA)

... study by Boston Consulting Group (BCG), compared with the estimated $460 million to $510 million cost of empowering the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority to create an SRO to examine advisers.   ...

13. Now That Barney Frank Is Leaving, He Comes Out Against An Advisor SRO
(Matching tags: Dodd-Frank,SRO)

Barney Frank has decided to retire at the end of his current term, but he's going to fight for his regulatory goals -- including, just maybe, keeping advisory firms under a SEC mandate.

14. Pro-SRO Broker-Dealer Group Raises Member Dues To Lobby More Aggressively
(Matching tags: SRO)

The Financial Services Institute needs a lot more money to achieve its goals in Washington, and few of its independent broker-dealer members are coming forward with complaints.

15. Enemies Of The RIA SRO Turn To The Senate
(Matching tags: SRO)

Despite a sense that a bill to move RIA supervision to a self-regulatory organization seems inevitable in the House, the Senate promises to be an entirely different ball game.

16. Get Ready For Congressional SRO Hearings In Two Weeks
(Matching tags: Dodd-Frank,SRO)

The House of Representatives has reportedly scheduled September 13 as the date when formal debate on whether investment advisors should switch to a self-regulated model.

17. NAIFA Backs FINRA Examination Of SEC-Registered Investment Advisers
(Matching tags: broker-dealers,financial planning,investment advisors,Dodd-Frank,registered investment advisors,SRO)

... (FINRA) serve as the self-regulatory organization (SRO) to conduct examinations of Securities and Exchange Commission-registered investment advisers.   "NAIFA believes the most efficient, ...