SEC’s ability to deliver true fiduciary standard in doubt: Report
April 8, 2015 by Melanie Waddell
Backers of a tough fiduciary standard for brokers remain skeptical that the Securities and Exchange Commission can deliver such a rule, as comments made by former and current SEC officials appear to signal a forthcoming watered-down disclosure-based standard that tolerates conflicts.
Knut Rostad, president of the Institute for the Fiduciary Standard, cites statements made by past and present regulators that signal a climate at the agency in which “conflicts of interest are a regular and inevitable part of the advisor landscape” and which holds a view that “conflicts are ‘OK,’” according to his just-released paper, “Conflicts of Interest and the Duty of Loyalty at the SEC.”
In the paper, Rostad concludes, in part, that “no consideration” has been made “for what is in the client’s ‘best interest,’” and that “disclosure is deemed the relevant treatment” for how advisors should fulfill their fiduciary duties. Click HERE to read…