A reminder that, in real life: “He who pays the piper calls the tune”.
The mandatory implementation of fully-negotiated brokerage commissions [May Day 1975] and shortly thereafter, The U.S. Congressional approval of Section 28(e)* created an environment in which institutional ‘order flow’ became a vastly more important component in the profitability of full-service brokerage firms. [‘order flow’ = code words for undisclosed institutional soft dollar commissions]
Given the implications of fully-negotiated (retail client) commissions and 37 years of serial interpretations and uneven enforcement of Section 28(e), should anyone expect the brokerage industry to look any different than it does today?
* Section 28(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 [Also, go to linked letter requesting substantial revision or repeal of section 28(e). The letter is from past SEC Chairman Christopher Cox to former Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, Senator Christopher Dodd, a similar letter was sent to then Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, Barney Frank > http://www.scribd.com/doc/13752510/Cox-Requests-Legislative-Action
Links to two related New York Times newspaper articles of interest follow:
Editorial
Not All Investors Are Equal
Published: July 17, 2012
Surveys Give Big Investors an Early View From Analysts
By GRETCHEN MORGENSON
Published: July 15, 2012
* http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/16/business/in-surveys-hedge-funds-see-early-views-of-stock-analysts.html
· Fair Disclosure, Regulation FD - SEC
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Aug 30, 2004 ... On August 15, 2000, the SEC adopted Regulation FD to address the selective disclosure of information by publicly traded companies and other ...