With Sen. Dodd set to introduce a long-awaited proposal to overhaul how the financial services industry does business with the public, you might want to sit up and pay attention. SEC Chair Mary Schapiro seems to indicate in speeches that she favors one, “harmonized” regulatory system, in which every financial service pro is a fiduciary. That scares some people. more

The short answer, is probably yes, at least for a while. Registered Rep. columnist and professional recruiter Mindy Diamond, of Diamond Consultants, has written a must-read article for any advisor who is thinking about switching firms. She concludes that the rich deals of 2009 will still be on offer in 2010 — for the right book. As you know — and have read in these pages many times — in 2009, the sign-on-bonus deals (promissory notes, really) touched the stratosphere, approaching 300 percent (and sometimes more) of trailing production for the best books of business. more

You would think so, judging from a story in today’s New York Times, the house organ of the left wing of the Democratic party. This story tells the same old saga: Wirehouses are all sales and no financial planning. Funny thing, I know a slew of wirehouse advisors who are in fact ethical. But, the independents, hybrids and fee-only RIAs sure do love to grind an axe on this subject. more

Want to “socialize” with other financial advisors? Discuss how to sell your book? Have a question about marketing yourself to high-net-worth investors? These and many more topics are being discussed right now on RegisteredRep.com’s Advisor Forums.

The world of the Lehman spouse sounds horrible. Sure, you get fancy clothes, extravagant dinners, cars and trips. But the price seems excissive — since the firm literally owned its employees and their families. Indeed, executives were pressured to miss a child’s birth. The world of Lehman spouses described by Vicky Ward in her new book, The Devil’s Casino: Friendship, Betryal and the High Stakes Games Played Inside Lehman Bros., sounds like the modern equivalent of the Stepford Wives. Super-competitive Stepford wives on steroids and strappy stilettos, that is. more

In December, the House of Representatives unleashed — or tried to — a new era of financial reform by passing the Consumer Protection Act of 2009. If passed and then signed, it would turn Wall Street as we know it upside down. Why? For one, it would make broker/dealers and their reps fiduciaries. more

Bank of America Merrill Lynch has stated that it will hire 2,000 more brokers to its global wealth management division during next year, says Aite Group, a financial services consultancy. We’ve written extensively on this subject.

But, I would ask, from where will ML pinch these advisors? And how much will it cost them in up-front deals? more

FINRA says blogs and social networking sites are subject to your broker/dealers’ supervision (in accordance with FINRA guidelines, of course). But not to worry: Today’s Regulatory Notice 10-06 “does not purport to address the use by individuals of social media sites for purely personal reasons.”

In short, if you want to take a picture of your breakfast and post on your deep morning thoughts on the “what’s on your mind?” section of Facebook, best not to talk stocks or funds! more

On Friday, I noted that Robert W. Baird ranked eleventh on Fortune’s annual list. Well, I somehow forgot to note that Edward Jones ranked second (beating Goldman Sachs, ranked 24). That doesn’t surprise me, since Ed Jones advisors on our advisor forum are a positive cohort, posting positive comments about thier company. And our annual Broker Report Card survey, measuring advisors’ satisfaction with their management, Ed Jones always ranks their firm highest. This year, in the December issue, 98 percent of the Ed Jones respondents said they were the best firmt to work for. So, my apologies to Ed Jones in not mentioning it in the original post.

FAs can be an optimistic lot. This year’s Registered Rep. Broker Report Cards really does show just how optimistic financial advisors can be. We don’t need to remind anyone about the tremendous upheaval the popping of the credit/housing bubble created. And, yet, the marks FAs gave their firms were surprisingly solid — at least for all but Wells Fargo Advisors and UBS’ Wealth Management Americas unit.

While we don’t survey Baird or other regional broker/dealers on how satisified their FAs are, Baird can brag that, once again, Fortune has deemed it among its best company to work for list. To read Baird’s press release, click here. For Fortune magazine’s story, click here.