Brokerages

New York Atty. Gen. Eliot Spitzer, who shook up investment banks and mutual funds with investigations into stock research and trading, is examining potential conflicts of interest at insurance brokerages. Marsh & McLennan Cos., Aon Corp. and Willis Group Holdings Ltd., the world's biggest insurance brokerages, said they received subpoenas about their practice of accepting payments from both sides of an insurance transaction. A number of brokers are receiving similar requests, Aon said.

About two dozen brokerages, including many of Wall Street's biggest firms, will agree to pay millions of dollars in fines under a settlement with regulators that will conclude the federal investigation of trading abuses on the Nasdaq Stock Market, people with knowledge of the talks said Wednesday. The settlement between the U.S.

Do full-service brokerages deserve the poor general image they have in the eyes of many baby boomers? Probably not--but it depends how they're judged. Here's a look at how the big brokerages rank by some key yardsticks: * INVESTMENT RESEARCH: Better research should mean better stock recommendations, and, ultimately, richer clients. Who's tops in research?

The Securities and Exchange Commission said it obtained a temporary restraining order freezing the personal assets of William Sedkey Saydein, owner of defunct W.S. Clearing, a Glendale-based brokerage. The firm, which cleared trades and handled 15,000 accounts for 18 small brokerages nationwide, was shut down March 6 after its capital evaporated. On Thursday the SEC alleged that Saydein on March 4 transferred $1.9 million from a W.S. Clearing account to his personal bank account.

Prudential Securities Inc., Lehman Bros. Inc. (LEH) and five other brokerages were fined a total of $213,000 by the National Assn. of Securities Dealers for improper handling of customer orders, the NASD said. The NASD said Prudential and Lehman failed to promptly display customer limit orders when each order was at a price that would have improved the firm's best bid or offer in a given security.

It's crunch time on Wall Street, and that means investors had better be careful. Several large brokerages are trying to motivate their sales staffs to push in-house or proprietary mutual funds rather than those offered by independent load-fund companies. The brokerages consider this a legitimate way to boost earnings, but critics cite the potential for a conflict of interest that might result in some investors being sold inferior funds. This pressure comes in two main forms.

Some tips if you're trying to pick a discount brokerage: * Don't feel shy about opening accounts at a number of discounters. Even among the deepest discounters, commissions can vary significantly, depending on the configuration of a particular stock trade. You may as well get the cheapest price you can on every trade. Discount brokers are generally happy to quote commissions over the phone, unlike many other businesses.