Past Programs
Program on Basel II and Basel IA: December 13, 2006
The Morin Center and Goodwin Procter LLP presented a one-day conference on Basel II and Basel IA, including the proposed US implementation and the impact it will have on US financial institutions and US branches of foreign institutions, from a regulatory, legal and business perspective. This seminar was intended to help banks, US branches of foreign banks, broker-dealers and investment banks prepare a response to the NPR that was published in September 2006 (and the Basel IA proposal due out in late November/early December).
Panels included prominent speakers from all four US banking regulators, the SEC, the rating agencies, affected financial institutions, trade groups and prominent publications, as well as Goodwin Procter Financial Services attorneys.
Managing Conflicts of Interest in the Wealth Services Business
Date: Friday, October 13, 2006
Location: JW Marriott Hotel, Washington, DC
The management of conflicts of interest in the wealth services business is an increasingly important challenge for bank trust departments, investment advisers, broker-dealers, and other financial institutions that offer investment advice and money management services. These institutions encounter conflicts of interest almost daily as they strive to meet the growing needs of an increasingly affluent customer base demanding a wide range of sophisticated investment products and services, including proprietary products and services.
Because the financial services industry is essentially a fee-based industry, the conflicts of interest that arise often involve the charging and allocation of fees for various investment products such as mutual funds, separately managed accounts, and other pooled and individually managed products. In many cases, the conflicts of interest are familiar and banks and other financial institutions have policies and procedures in place to ensure that the conflicts are managed and the interests of customers are protected. In other cases, the conflicts might not be so obvious or easy to deal with.
In order to help financial institutions identify conflicts of interest, understand the applicable fiduciary principles, and development effective conflict management programs, the Morin Center for Banking and Financial Law at Boston University School of Law presented a symposium addressing these issues. Entitled "Managing Conflicts of Interest in the Wealth Services Business," the symposium provided a forum where fiduciary law experts, federal banking and securities regulators, state enforcement officials, and industry participants analyzed and discussed how conflicts of interest in the wealth services sector can best be addressed, particularly when proprietary products are used.
Topics
- The trust law duty of loyalty: sole interest or best interest?
- Federal regulatory standards and expectations: Banking regulators and Securities regulators
- A view from the states
- Conflicts of Interest: an ethical choice?
- Managing conflicts on a global basis