Despite the controversy about the Facebook IPO, more and more people are spending more and more time on the site. The average amount of time spent daily is 55 minutes. Investors have begun to trust the advice of their peers instead of the marketing efforts of financial institutions. With confidentiality and compliance factors ever on advisors’ minds, there is a continual search for the best way to participate in the Facebook phenomenon while remaining true to industry and firm compliance guidelines.

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Surprising and disappointing results came from Ernst & Young’s annual and recently conducted global fraud survey. It found that 15% of chief financial officers (CFOs) across the globe would pay bribes to keep business from going out the door. This is up from 9% the year before. Five percent also said they would be willing to misstate financial results on company reports in exchange for side money.

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The U.S. Department of Labor, in a complaint filed yesterday in U.S. District Court, alleges an advisor used more than $3.2 million of the retirement savings of workers from multiple employers for personal expenses. No money is left to pay plan participants the benefits owed them, DOL says. Ordinarily, this sort of DOL release wouldn’t be big news. The DOL files dozens of complaints every year accusing advisers of diverting ERISA-plan assets for their personal expenses. But this DOL release this time didn’t feature a nameless and faceless adviser.

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FINRA plays a significant role in alerting the SEC to insider trading infractions. As an industry watchdog, the regulatory group gathers information on firms even beyond their broker-dealer scope to assess whether trading activity is suspicious. Particularly when unusual trading activity occurs, letters of inquiry will be sent to all firms involved.

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