The Labor and Treasury departments are discussing jointly submitting a request for comment from members of the retirement income industry to determine if there needs to be regulation of the market. “There has been an increasing interest in the pension and savings community in the notion that we can do more to help people manage their funds in retirement,” J. Mark Iwry, senior adviser to the secretary of the Treasury and deputy assistant secretary for retirement and health policy, said in an interview today

The Securities and Exchange Commission next year will consider whether 12(b)-1 fees paid by investors on their mutual funds should be continued, SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro said today. “We must critically rethink how 12(b)-1 fees are used and whether they continue to be appropriate,” Ms. Schapiro said at the Consumer Federation of America’s Annual Financial Services Conference in Washington.

The House voted Thursday to permanently extend a 45 percent inheritance tax on estates larger than $3.5 million, canceling a one-year repeal of the tax set to begin next month. A similar effort is afoot in the Senate, but the health care debate there could preclude action on the estate tax before Congress breaks later this month for holidays. There are also disagreements among senators over the tax rate and the size of estates that should be exempt, further clouding the bill’s prospects.

December 3, 2009 Crude prices fall, gold gains in New York by Elaine Frei Crude oil prices fell slightly in New York trade on Thursday after the Institute for Supply Management services index fell unexpectedly and as the US dollar strengthened. January contracts for West Texas Intermediate crude dropped 14 cents to $76.46 on the New York Mercantile Exchange, but at last report January Brent crude was 48 cents higher to $78.36 per barrel on the ICE Futures Europe exchange in London. Also hurting prices was a report from the US Energy Information Administration which reported that demand for all oil products was down by 2.6 percent and gasoline demand 1.6 percent lower

A Securities America adviser named last week in a class action said he had no way of knowing that securities he sold would later blow up. The adviser, Bradley Hofhines, said in a statement to The Idaho Statesman newspaper that he was unaware of any problems with an offering from Provident Royalties LLC. The Securities and Exchange Commission this summer charged Provident with fraud, and many investors have begun legal action to get money back.

Thirteen current and former executives of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority Inc. made more than $1 million apiece in 2008, a year in which the regulatory organization lost $694 million, according to tax forms Finra filed last month. The compensation, which includes salary, bonuses and retirement plan awards, pales next to the payouts that some Wall Street executives and bankers made in boom years — but still raised eyebrows given Finra’s investor protection charter and its $479 million in investment losses last year.

Focus Financial Partners, which recently completed a $50 million recapitalization to meet debt obligations and revive its business of buying interests in wealth management firms, has agreed to acquire LLBH Group Private Wealth Management as a full partner firm. LLBH, founded in October 2008 by four Merrill Lynch & Co.