SIFMA Statement on House Hearing on Labor Department’s Retirement Regulation

Release Date: September 10, 2015
Contact: Carol Danko, 202-962-7390, [email protected]

SIFMA Statement on House Hearing on Labor Department’s Retirement Regulation

Washington, DC, September 10, 2015 – Today, SIFMA president and CEO Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr., issued the following statement in response to the House Financial Services Subcommittees on Oversight and Investigations and Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises Hearing Entitled “Preserving Retirement Security and Investment Choices for All Americans”:

“We are pleased that Rep. Wagner’s legislation would require the SEC, and not the DOL, to take the first action in establishing a uniform fiduciary standard. SIFMA and the broader financial services industry have long advocated for a best interests standard that covers the entire marketplace, and not just one sector, when providing personalized investment guidance.

“The DOL’s approach represents a failure in the public policy market place that will disserve the retirement savers that this rule aims to assist. We echo the bipartisan concerns raised today and believe the DOL’s rule, as drafted, will reduce choice and increase cost, while leaving individual savers to navigate a more complex and confusing landscape. We strongly believe that it was the intent of Congress that the SEC, and not the DOL, is the appropriate and expert agency to establish a uniform standard of care for brokers and advisers.”