Articles Written by Jon Henschen

The Small, Generalist Broker-Dealer: R.I.P.?

16:29 10 April in Articles Written by Jon Henschen by rafferty

by Jon Henschen April 10, 2014, as featured on ThinkAdvisor On July 18,  the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held a hearing regarding “Regulatory Burdens: The Impact of Dodd Frank on Community Banks.” In her testimony, Wake Forest University Professor Tanya Marsh discussed how “Dodd-Frank builds on decades of ‘one-size-fits-all’ regulation of financial institutions, an ill-conceived regulatory framework that puts community banks at a competitive disadvantage to their larger, more complex competitors.” In her testimony, Marsh argued that “The imposition of regulatory burdens on community banks without attendant benefits ultimately harms both consumers and the economy by: 1) forcing community banks to consolidate or go out of business, furthering the concentration of assets in a small number of mega-financial institutions, and 2) encouraging standardization of financial products, leaving millions of vulnerable borrowers...

IBD Regulation: Broken Windows, Broken System

21:37 11 March in Articles Written by Jon Henschen by rafferty

by Jon Henschen March 11, 2014, as featured on ThinkAdvisor At the Financial Services Institute OneVoice conference in late January,  FSI President and CEO Dale Brown set the stage for things to come by commenting on the intentions of SEC Chairwoman Mary Jo White. White is the first to assume the SEC chair with a background as a federal prosecutor and securities lawyer, and her priorities reflect this litigation bent. She intends to usher in a period of rigorous enforcement, with a key component to that enforcement being the application of the “Broken Window Theory.” The thinking behind “broken windows” is that no crime is too small to garner the attention of the cop on the beat, including acts such as vandals throwing rocks through windows. As the theory goes, when a window...

Is the Grass Really Greener?

16:33 06 January in Articles Written by Jon Henschen by rafferty

by Jon Henschen December 23, 2013 ThinkAdvisor and the 2014 Career Guide issue of Investment Advisor When reps are considering changing broker-dealers, they want answers to these nine common questions Recruiters like myself often get questions from broker-dealer reps considering a move that begin, “Is it normal that my broker-dealer…?” Broker-dealers can be notorious for giving advisors answers that smack of corporate clichés such as, “We’re making these changes to be in line with our competitors” or “Regulators are requiring us to make these changes.” We thought it would be useful to bring to light nine common questions we, as recruiters, get from reps as they try to solve the puzzles of costs, company policies and supervision. 1: Our BD passes through 12b-1 trails on mutual funds in advisory accounts with non-qualified assets, but...