Heath Abshure

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  Schwab Backs Off on Class-Action Ban—for Now

  By Melanie Waddell, AdvisorOne  |  May 17, 2013

  Charles Schwab on Thursday said it would lift a ban on client class-action suits until all legal and regulatory challenges were resolved.

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  NASAA Joins FINRA in Fight Against Schwab Class-Action Ruling

  By Melanie Waddell, AdvisorOne  |  May 9, 2013

  State securities regulators are throwing their support behind FINRA in its battle to overturn a decision by its hearing panel that allowed Charles Schwab & Co. to block customer participation in class-action lawsuits.

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  Sen. Franken Urges SEC to Ban ‘Unfair’ Arbitration Agreements

  By Melanie Waddell, AdvisorOne  |  April 30, 2013

  Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., told SEC Chairwoman Mary Jo White in a Tuesday letter to act now to prevent Wall Street brokerage firms from forcing investors into “unfair” arbitration agreements.

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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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  NASAA Sounds Alarm on Private Placement Offerings

  By Melanie Waddell, AdvisorOne  |  April 2, 2013

  As the SEC finalizes its proposed rule under the JOBS Act to allow marketing of such offerings, state regulators issued an investor alert Tuesday.

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  White Pledges to Weigh Cost of Fiduciary Rule as Ketchum Revives SRO Fight

  By Melanie Waddell, AdvisorOne  |  April 1, 2013

  Just as incoming Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairwoman Mary Jo White has pledged to lawmakers that she would carefully weigh the costs of a fiduciary rulemaking, Richard Ketchum, CEO of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), is renewing his call for a self-regulatory organization to oversee advisors.

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  NASAA to Push SEC User Fees, ‘Stay On Guard’ Against FINRA SRO

  By Melanie Waddell, AdvisorOne  |  March 5, 2013

  Chief among state securities regulators’ legislative agenda this year will be pushing SEC user fees, not a FINRA SRO, to better regulate advisors, NASAA President Heath Abshure said Tuesday.

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  NASAA Fires Off Warning as Crowdfunding Accelerates

  By Melanie Waddell, AdvisorOne  |  December 7, 2012

  With the number of crowdfunding Internet domains jumping from 900 to 8,800 since the beginning of the year, NASAA sees big potential for abuse.

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  Enforcement Actions Against Advisors Nearly Doubled: NASAA

  By Melanie Waddell, AdvisorOne  |  October 25, 2012

  Prison time resulting from state-initiated actions rose from the year before, and the number of advisors and BDs removed or barred from the industry spiked as well, according to NASAA’s annual enforcement report.

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  Rule 506’s Lifting of Ban on Private Offering Advertising Will Create ‘Chaos’: Industry Groups

  By Melanie Waddell, AdvisorOne  |  October 10, 2012

  Heath Abshure, president of NASAA, was among those urging the SEC to withdraw the JOBS Act rule, saying “investors should and will flee from the market" without adequate protection.