Regulation of Global Financial Firms After Morrison v. National Australia Bank

(Excerpt) Part I of the Article reviews the Morrison decision with particular focus on the regulation of non-U.S. firms. Part II discusses SEC regulation of non-U.S. domiciled investment advisers and broker-dealers, focusing on elements of regulation most relevant to Morrison. Part III identifies regulatory challenges arising from Morrison

Selling Advice and Creating Expectations: Why Brokers Should Be Fiduciaries

Investors face a dizzying array of choices regarding where to invest their funds and increasingly rely on experts for advice. Most advice about securities is provided by investment advisers or broker-dealers, legal categories with little meaning to most people but fraught with consequences. Although advisers and brokers often perform the same function, advisers are subject to a strict fiduciary standard to act in their clients’ best interest while brokers are subject to a less rigorous standard of suitability to ensure that their recommendations are suitable for customers. In 2010, the Dodd-Frank Act authorized the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to harmonize the regulation of advisers and brokers and impose a fiduciary duty on brokers that give advice. This Article is about whether the SEC should exercise its authority. After explaining the historical context of the debate over a fiduciary standard, the Article critiques common arguments for a fiduciary duty, concluding that they are incomplete and do not alone justify a change in the law. The Article then puts forth a better justification, based on the reasonable expectations of investors. Reasonable expectations arise from brokers marketing their services as advisory and using titles, such as financial advisor and financial consultant. Reasonable expectations provide a stronger justification for a fiduciary standard than the conventional arguments

Harmonizing the Regulation of Financial Advisers

When buying stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and other securities, individuals seeking advice typically turn to broker-dealers or investment advisers before they invest. In many cases, brokers and advisers perform similar functions but they are regulated differently under laws enacted during the Great Depression. Regulators are considering ways to harmonize the regulation of these professionals, but harmonization is fraught with difficulties. This chapter discusses the debate over harmonization and explains how the US Securities and Exchange Commission, the courts, and Congress have responded. The chapter concludes with insights into considerations that will likely determine how the harmonization debate will be resolved

The Apple II

The apple II+ microcomputer was interfaced to an Aminco-Morrow stopped-flow Apparatus. This interface package can be broken into two parts; the hardware, or electrical connections necessary to link the two instruments, and secondly, the software, or programs written to control the interface package. A circuit was constructed as part of the interface hardware. This circuit consisted of several operational amplifiers connected in such a way as to transform the output voltage of the stopped-flow into one acceptable by the Apple computer. The software for this interface package is extensive. Programs were written that allowed the user to initialize the correct interface conditions, save any data from a particular run, and draw a rough plot of the data collected. Programs are also included for reactions that follow first order kinetics. These programs calculate a rate constant and intercept for the best fit straight line of a first order kinetic plot

Fiduciary Obligations of Broker-Dealers and Investment Advisers

The article discusses fiduciary obligation that broker-dealers and investment advisers owe their clients. It addresses questions in ascertaining whether financial reform is needed. The fiduciary obligations imposed on brokers and advisers are examined. An analysis of whether fiduciary duties should be imposed on brokers providing advice is offered

IMPLEMENTASI ALGORITMA RR-PSO YANG CEPAT, STABIL DAN ROBUST UNTUK INVERSI DISPERSI GELOMBANG RAYLEIGH DAN VERTICAL ELECTRICAL SOUNDING

Akhir-akhir ini, parameter fisis bawah permukaan seperti kecepatan gelombang geser (Vs) dan resistivitas (ρ) banyak dimanfaatkan untuk investigasi geoteknik dan studi lingkungan. Salah satunya, untuk karakterisasi dan monitoring tanggul. Inversi merupakan kunci utama dalam mengestimasi parameter Vs pada analisis dispersi gelombang Rayleigh dan ρ pada vertical electrical sounding (VES). Oleh karena itu, diperlukan algoritma inversi yang cepat, stabil dan robust terhadap noise serta mampu menyediakan informasi ketidakpastian dalam mengestimasi parameter tersebut. Pada penelitian ini, telah dikembangkan algoritma inversi berbasis RR-PSO untuk inversi kurva dispersi dan data VES. Tahap pertama pada penelitian ini, dilakukan simulasi numerik untuk mengatahui kapabilitas algoritma RR-PSO dalam mengoptimasi fungsi multi-modal. Pada simulasi numerik ini, dilibatkan beberapa algoritma lain sebagai pembanding. Setelah itu, algoritma RR-PSO diuji validitasnya dalam menginversi kurva dispersi dan data VES. Pada uji validitas ini, algoritma RR-PSO diimplementasikan pada data sintetik. Data sintetik yang digunakan terdiri dari dua jenis, yaitu data yang bebas noise dan data yang terkontaminasi noise. Uji validitas yang dilakukan meliputi: (1) perhitungan similarity index (SI); (2) estimasi ketidakpastian solusi menggunakan standar deviasi dan jangkauan interkuartil. Pada tahap terakhir, algoritma RR-PSO dimplementasikan pada kurva dispersi dan data VES lapangan tanggul LUSI P.79 – P.82. Hasil inversi yang berupa model Vs dan ρ satu dimensi, digunakan untuk merekonstruksi kondisi bawah permukaan tanggul. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa algoritma RR-PSO memiliki performa yang cepat, stabil dan robust terhadap noise baik pada inversi dispersi gelombang Rayleigh maupun VES. Serta, mampu mengestimasi parameter bawah permukaan dengan tepat. Di samping itu, algoritma ini juga mampu menginterpretasikan keadaan bawah permukaan tanggul dengan baik. Sehingga, dapat digunakan untuk menilai kestabilan tanggul