The Securities and Exchange Commission July 21 unanimously proposed extensive changes to the framework for mutual fund distribution fees that would cap ongoing sales charges, improve fee transparency, and potentially lead to a new distribution model for the funds…

Although the recently enacted financial reform bill (Public Law No: 111-203) appears to be less burdensome on community banks than their larger peers, experts expect that the new regulations and tighter scrutiny resulting from the regulatory overhaul will force many of those banks to consolidate in order to survive…

Bending to pressure from the world’s most powerful banks, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision issues changes to its proposed Basel III capital rules that will result in new parameters for minimum capital set-aside requirements and longer phase-in periods for implementing the changes…

While Senate Democrats have abandoned hopes for passing a climate change bill this year, Sen. Michael Johanns (R-Neb.) introduced legislation July 27 to block proponents from using a procedural maneuver to…

Last month, Europe took a major step toward a notice and opt-in regulatory model for behavioral advertising.

On June 22, the Article 29 Working Party, the EU-level data protection advisory body comprised of representatives of all EU member state data protection authorities, issued a detailed and very restrictive opinion on online behavioral advertising. The opinion requires network advertisers to obtain user opt-in to placement of advertising cookies on user devices, to provide prominent notice of profiling, and to erase cookies periodically. It also requires website publishers to inform the visitors about the ad network used and the profiling that takes place. The Working Party will reach out to industry stakeholders and invites public comment and a “dialogue” with industry regarding how to implement the broad principles it articulates in the opinion.

Just three days before the hearing, Rush July 19 introduced a bill that would establish consumer data privacy rules while offering a safe harbor in…

Among other amendments, the proposed rules would give fund managers the option of allowing broker-dealers to determine their own sales charges when selling shares in a fund. Currently, all brokers must abide by…

President Obama July 21 signed into law the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the most sweeping overhaul of U.S. financial regulations since the 1930s…

A House Appropriations subcommittee July 22 approved a fiscal year 2011 spending bill for the Environmental Protection Agency and other environmental programs, rejecting an amendment that would have imposed a two-year delay on EPA plans to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from…

Corporate governance events in the financial services industry over the last few years have caused plan sponsors to pay more attention to transparency and disclosure of fees charged by plan service providers. The problem is that the fees are all too often “hidden” within the investment fee structure of the defined contribution plans.

This has led to proposed legislation which would require financial service providers to disclose fees to plan participants and sponsors of Internal Revenue Code Sections 401(k), 403(b), and 457 plans, as well as state and local government plans…