The Securities and Exchange Commission will vote Wednesday, June 5 on rules governing broker-dealers and investment advisers that were supposed to improve investor protections, but don’t.
Investor advocates, state securities regulators, legal experts, and fiduciary advisers all agree that the regulations the agency is set to approve are a betrayal of the “Mr. and Ms. 401(k)” investors SEC Chairman Jay Clayton pledged to protect when he undertook this rulemaking. Ordinary investors lose tens of billions of dollars each year as a result of self-interested advice from investment advisers and brokers. With this rule, the SEC is effectively sanctioning the conflicts of interest that create incentives for brokers to give self-interested advice to their clients. The drain on people’s hard-earned savings will continue.