SEC Chair Mary Jo White stated that the agency will create stricter rules for broker. By doing so, the SEC will enter a long-standing war between Wall Street and the White House, which has asserted that biased financial advice is costing investors millions of dollars.
White’s comments follow on the heels of a move by the Labor Department to make brokers put the interests of retirement savers ahead of their own, which is called a fiduciary duty. The SEC has studied the issue for years but has yet to take any regulatory action.
White believes that the SEC should “implement a uniform fiduciary duty for broker-dealers and investment advisers where the standard is to act in the best interest of the investor.”
The financial industry has been watching closely for Ms. White’s position, which would break a standoff between the two Democrat and two Republican commissioners. White said she will begin talking with the other commissioners about the outlines of new rules.
White’s concern is “[g]etting the balance right.”
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