Ethics Edge - October 2007

Important Do's and Don'ts for Communicating Your NEB Membership
How you communicate your NEB membership matters. In the current compliance-driven environment, it’s crucial to use NEB’s branding correctly—and to provide clear and accurate descriptions of NEB to your prospects and clients. Here are six guidelines to follow. 1. Do not call yourself an “Approved Financial Advisor.” Doing this is dangerous for two reasons. First, regulators these days are hypersensitive about financial professionals calling themselves anything not supported by their training, practices, \| Continued »

NEB Partners with ProducersWEB.com to Launch New TrendWatch Podcast Series.

SAN DIEGO, CA, September 24, 2007—To help financial professionals benefit from emerging industry trends, National Ethics Bureau (NEB) has partnered with ProducersWEB.com to produce a new podcast series entitled Trendwatch. The podcast series will be available on ProducersWEB.com.

Hosted by NEB Chairman Steven R. McCarty and NEB President Jeffrey S. Kopitz, the new series brings together the industry’s top experts to help producers stay one step ahead of the issues that are transforming the business today.

“We are delighted to partner with ProducersWEB.com on this initiative,” said NEB’s McCarty. “They have the leading platform for communicating with financial professionals. | Continued »

The National Ethics Bureau™ (NEB) is a membership organization of financial professionals who have successfully passed a comprehensive background check and have agreed to maintain NEB membership standards. All members are admitted into NEB’s national registry, which consumers can access free of charge to verify a member’s approval status.

NEB also advocates for business ethics and consumer protection through its trade-magazine columns, conference presentations, consumer guides, monthly Ethics Edge newsletter, and web site www.ethicscheck.com.

NEB is not a financial designation or marketing organization. It does not sell or endorse any financial products. Nor does it receive financial considerations from its members or other entities who sell such products.

NEW: Monthly podcast that features interviews with top industry experts on current trends in the financial Services Industry.

Click here to register...

	Watch Out When Recommending Early IRA Withdrawals
October 2007
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) is examining sales practices that suggest clients make early withdrawals from IRAs in order to make new investments. Broker/dealer representatives who encourage prospects to withdraw their IRA money prior to age 59 1/2 under Section 72 (t) of the IRS code may attract close FINRA scrutiny, according to published reports. In the wake of an NASD enforcement action against Citigroup Global Markets earlier this year, FINRA is now attempting to ferret out financial professionals who give misleading advice about early IRA withdrawals or who make misleading statements about potential returns when the proceeds are invested \| Continued »

	The Trust Factor: Transform Your Business and Your Life
	Has the concept of “trust” been overdone? Trust me…it has. (Sorry for using the industry’s most discredited phrase…) Amazon lists 354,902 books with “trust” in the title, and the mother of all Internet search engines, Google, returns 259 million trust-related links.
So clearly, trust—or the lack thereof—is on a lot of people’s minds. But that’s the problem. Plenty of talk about trust, but not enough action. For this reason, I’d like to devote this column and the two that follow to the topic of achieving business breakthroughs with trust. Here’s where I’m headed with the whole “trust factor”. Supreme trust is the integral element of business success. \| Continued »

Staying Ethically Sharp

When it comes to ethics and compliance, it’s easy to get complacent. But the world is changing every day. So if you don’t revisit your ethics frequently and stay current with the latest compliance rules, then you’re asking for trouble.

Here are some things you might consider doing to keep your ethics edge sharp: | Continued »

	A Simple Success Story
	For Terry Snyder, achieving success in financial services isn’t complex. It’s simply about treating clients well and running as hard as you can. Snyder should know . . . he’s a top producer with Ann Arbor Annuity Exchange and has been in full sprint for going on 38 years. As president of TKN Enterprises, Inc., in Michigan City, Indiana, Snyder has built a prosperous solo practice on a foundation of technical savvy, sales smarts, and sheer force of will. He’s an annuity specialist, rolling over 401 (k) and 403 (b) money into annuity contracts that generate guaranteed lifetime income. He also provides long-term care products, along with life insurance estate solutions.
Snyder knows his products, but what really jazzes him is helping clients. \| Continued » Become NEB's next Member of the Month! (click here)