Financial/Insurance Planning

NASD Cracks Down on Gifts Monday, January 1, 2007 9:00 AM Planners who work for one of the 5,000 companies that fall under the regulatory arm of NASD, may soon be dealing with new guidelines on gift-giving and entertainment. Concerned that excessive entertaining and gift-giving compromise the ability of brokers to work in the best interests of their clients, NASD and the New York Stock Exchange have recently proposed new rules that would force companies

Full Speed Ahead Monday, January 1, 2007 9:00 AM Let the numbers do the talking: The member companies of Financial & Insurance Conference Planners alone spend $600 million on meetings. And a typical FICP member company's largest meeting brings $500,000 of pure revenue to a hotel. We're a niche player, but we represent big business and it's growing, says Patricia Kerr, CMP, director, distribution sales support, Manulife Financial in Waterloo, Ontario.

Decoding Incentive Tax Codes Friday, September 1, 2006 10:00 AM Interpreting the U.S. Tax code with respect to any industry can be tough, but the subtleties of the tax code in relation to incentives are downright perplexing. Questions in hand, we turned to well-known meetings expert and lawyer Jonathan T. Howe for guidance. Howe, whose advice is often found in these pages, serves as general counsel to Meeting Professionals International and the International Special

Are Your Incentive Programs at Risk? Friday, September 1, 2006 10:00 AM The Decision of St. Paul Travelers Cos. Inc. to settle with attorneys general from New York, Connecticut, and Illinois on charges of bid rigging and inappropriate incentive practices has again got some insurance industry professionals wondering if the incentive compensation system is at risk. In an August 3 statement following the announcement of the settlement, the 300,000-member Independent Insurance

Truth or Consequences Saturday, July 1, 2006 10:00 AM From 1996 until the beginning of this year, Barry R. Goldsmith served as NASD's top enforcement official. During his tenure as executive vice president for enforcement, NASD more than doubled the size of its enforcement staff and dramatically increased the number of enforcement actions undertaken by its offices around the country. Prior to joining NASD, Goldsmith served as chief litigation counsel