The Financial Planning Coalition, a group that includes several organizations representing thousands of financial advisors, last week released a copy of a petition it sent to the Securities and Exchange Commission, asking the regulatory agency to extend the definition of fiduciary standard to include "anyone providing personalized investment advice to retail clients."

The money stream is flowing again. After two years of stagnant or shrinking revenue, the 50 largest independent broker-dealers reported that annual revenues rebounded last year.

Private banks and wealth managers must adapt to far higher expectations from clients and a new set of regulations. Those that can't simply won't survive, according to a global survey of senior industry executives.

A new survey from PenFed found that 40% of adults said that personal finances or job stability was the No. 1 factor when thinking about purchasing a home.

The potential for negative long-term mortgage rates is surfacing around the world, and with global tensions building in the U.S. market, there's a small but growing chance it could happen here, too.

It’s hard to time the next economic slowdown. But lenders, many with lingering memories of the financial crisis, are taking steps now to limit exposure in commercial real estate, construction and other loan segments.

The only way for Fincen to assure that banks have the tools to identify illicit shell companies is for the agency to verify the information in its new beneficial ownership database.

The lack of housing — particularly on the lower price range — is becoming an increasingly urgent political issue. But it's also a twisted bramble of tradeoffs that politicians are reluctant to touch.

Nothing demoralizes a good employee like seeing managers tolerate a bad one.