SEC Sets Up Temporary Registration for Municipal Advisors
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Thursday, September 2, adopted a temporary rule that allows municipal securities advisors to get a jump start on registering with the Commission.

SEC Charges North Carolina BD With Anti-Money Laundering Violations
Pinnacle Capital Markets also assessed penalty by FinCEN.

U.S. Sales of Fixed Annuities Saw 18% Jump in Q2
U.S. sales of fixed annuities totaled an estimated $19.4 billion in the second quarter, an 18% jump from first-quarter sales, according to Beacon Research’s Fixed Annuity Premium Study released Monday.

SEC Warns Credit Ratings Agencies That Dodd-Frank Gives It More Powers Over Ratings Fraud
NRSROs should implement sufficient internal controls over policies, procedures, and methodologies used to determine credit ratings.

The Playing Field: The Dodd-Frank Reform Bill Afterlife
A fiduciary standard for all may crimp RIAs’ competitive edge

Industry Lobbying of SEC on Fiduciary Standard to Continue
Unclear whether SEC will seek input on study of FINRA as SRO for advisors.

As SEC Fiduciary Comment Deadline Arrives, Groups Polish Responses
Monday, August 30, marks the last day the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) officially accepts comment letters regarding the study the securities regulator is to conduct on putting brokers under a fiduciary standard of care.

Bernanke: Fed Committed to Supporting Recovery
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Friday that inflation should remain “subdued for some time, with low risks of either a significant increase or decrease from current levels.”

SEC Votes to Give Shareholders Authority to Nominate Directors
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) voted Wednesday to give shareholders a greater say in nominating corporate boards of directors at publicly-traded companies starting in 2011.

SEC’s Target Date Fund Proposal Garners Little Response
Senators express ‘deep’ concern about limiting disclosures to only mutual funds.

SIPC Issues Alert on Check Scam
Con artists presented fake SIPC checks to buy goods and services on Craigslist.

NASAA’s Crawford on State Regulation of RIAs, Fiduciary: The Weekend Interview
Denise Voigt Crawford, Texas Securities Commissioner and president of NASAA, says states are “ready to go” in regulating the approximately 4,000 extra advisors that will officially shift next year.

MSRB Seeks Comment on Dealers That Act as Advisors
The MSRB is seeking comment on amendments to MSRB Rule G-23 that will prohibit municipal securities dealers that act as financial advisors on new issues of municipal securities from serving as an underwriter for the same issue, the MSRB says.

Broadridge to Buy NewRiver, an Electronic Prospectus Pioneer
Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire NewRiver, Inc., a leader in electronic investor disclosure solutions, for approximately $77 million.

Buddy Donohue, SEC’s Investment Management Director, to Leave Agency in November
Andrew “Buddy” Donohue, director of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Investment Management, is leaving the agency in November.

House Financial Services to Hold Hearing on SEC’s FOIA Exemption in September
Provision in Dodd-Frank Act would prevent access to financial transaction information.

Retained Asset Accounts Is Focus of Senator Shelby’s September Hearing
NAIC working group releases consumer alert on the accounts.

SEC, CFTC to Issue ‘Flash Crash’ Report in September
The SEC and CFTC plan to deliver a joint report in early September to the two agencies’ Advisory Committee on Emerging Regulatory Issues regarding their continued examination of the May 6 market crash, known as the “flash crash.”

SEC, NASAA, FINRA Update Best Practices for Serving Seniors
As the number of elderly Americans is expected to more than double by 2050, the SEC, FINRA, and NASAA have updated a joint report outlining practices being used by financial services firms.

SEC, CFTC Seek Comments on ‘Mixed Swaps’
As required by Title VII of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the SEC and CFTC published a joint advance notice of proposed rulemaking requesting public comment regarding “mixed swaps.”

SEC, CFTC to Hold Third Meeting on May 6 Crash
Agenda will focus on role of ETFs in so-called ‘flash crash.’

Geithner: Social Security Payments Exceed Revenue for 1st Time
The Boards of Trustees for Social Security and Medicare released their annual financial status reports on the two programs

EBSA, Treasury to Hold Lifetime Income Hearing
The U. S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) and the Department of the Treasury plan to hold a joint public hearing on September 14

House’s September Agenda: GSEs, SIPA
The House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises plans to tackle the future of housing finance and the limitations of the Securities Investor Protection Act when it re-convenes in September

Professors Prod Obama to Pick Warren as Head of New Consumer Watchdog
A group of 141 leading law and other professors from across the U.S. sent a letter to President Obama on Tuesday, August 3, encouraging him to appoint Elizabeth Warren as the chief of the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.