Melanie Waddell, AdvisorOne

About the Author

Melanie Waddell, AdvisorOne

Melanie is the Washington Bureau Chief and Editor of the Practice Channel on AdvisorOne.com. 

Early in her career, Melanie covered financial issues at American Banker in Washington. For more than 15 years, Melanie has been covering investment-related issues, entering the advisor universe in a senior level editorial position at American Banker/Thomson Media in both Washington and New York. After seven years at Thomson, now Reuters, Melanie joined the Investment Advisor team. 

Melanie has been a columnist for Investment Advisor for nine years, and holds a Bachelor’s degree in English from Towson University.

Reach Melanie at mwaddell@investmentadvisor.com.

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  Online Sales Tax Bill Seen as Rife With Unintended Consequences

  By Melanie Waddell, AdvisorOne  |  April 23, 2013

  Lawmakers and officials from the retirement planning and securities industries are coming out against an online financial transaction tax bill that they say would hurt retirement savers, small businesses and investors.

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  FINRA Names Its First EVP of Regulatory Ops

  By Melanie Waddell, AdvisorOne  |  April 22, 2013

  FINRA announced Monday that Susan Axelrod would become executive vice president of regulatory operations, a newly created position.

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  SEC Comings and Goings: Canellos, Ceresney Named Co-Heads of Enforcement

  By Melanie Waddell, AdvisorOne  |  April 22, 2013

  SEC Chairwoman Mary Jo White has named her former colleague Andrew Ceresney and acting enforcement director George Canellos co-directors of the enforcement division.

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  Rep. Waters Reintroduces SEC User Fees Bill

  By Melanie Waddell, AdvisorOne  |  April 19, 2013

  Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., on Friday made another go at allowing the SEC to collect user fees to fund advisor exams.

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  CFPB Calls for ‘Rigorous’ Standards for Senior Designations

  By Melanie Waddell, AdvisorOne  |  April 18, 2013

  The CFPB told Congress, the SEC and state regulators that the alphabet soup of “senior designations”—more than 50—confuses older Americans and that a three-pronged approach is needed to protect the elderly from fraud.

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  State Securities Regulators to Hike Exam Fees for Series 63, 65 and 66

  By Melanie Waddell, AdvisorOne  |  April 17, 2013

  Despite increased costs of maintaining the exams, NASAA says the exam fees have not increased for the past four years.

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  Congress Must Fix Advisor Exams Now: SEC’s Walter

  By Melanie Waddell, AdvisorOne  |  April 17, 2013

  The switching of advisors from SEC to state oversight under the Dodd-Frank Act is not “the final answer” to ensuring advisors are adequately examined, SEC Commissioner Elisse Walter told state securities regulators.

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  SEC’s Aguilar: Predispute Mandatory Arbitration Denies Investors’ Rights

  By Melanie Waddell, AdvisorOne  |  April 17, 2013

  “A client’s right to go to court to recover monetary damages is an important right that should be preserved and kept in the client’s toolkit,” SEC Commissioner Luis Aguilar told state securities regulators Tuesday.

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  Gridlock Easing in Congress, but Not in House Financial Services: Rep. Himes

  By Melanie Waddell, AdvisorOne  |  April 16, 2013

  While the icy stalemate in Congress is “beginning to thaw,” expect further gridlock on the House Financial Services Committee, Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., told state regulators Tuesday.

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  Trader Caught in Apple Stock Scam

  By Melanie Waddell, AdvisorOne  |  April 15, 2013

  The SEC on Monday charged a former employee at a Connecticut-based brokerage firm with placing unauthorized orders to buy nearly $1 billion in Apple stock, ultimately causing the firm to cease operations.