Washington, DC, March 16, 2018 – Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr. President & CEO of SIFMA released the following statement today regarding the need for regulatory action in the wake of a 5^th Circuit decision striking down the Department of Labor’s Fiduciary Rule:

“The Court’s ruling now presents an opportunity for policymakers to properly update the standards by which Americans receive investment advice by adopting a “best interest standard” that appropriately protects investors and preserves their ability to choose how they wish to select the services they need and want. The financial industry continues to strongly support such action. Recent statements by SEC Chairman Jay Clayton and Commissioner Hester Peirce that the SEC intends to pursue such a standard are appropriate and this decision should clear the way for the agency to act.”

“SIFMA favors an approach that would apply across all investments recommendations made to retail customers in all accounts (not just IRA accounts); enhance existing standards to create a heightened and more stringent “best interest” standard; ensure clients have a seamless experience with their financial professionals; build upon the existing and long-standing securities regulatory regime for brokers; and involve robust examination, oversight, and enforcement by the SEC, FINRA and state securities regulators.”

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SIFMA is the voice of the U.S. securities industry. We represent the broker-dealers, banks and asset managers whose nearly 1 million employees provide access to the capital markets, raising over $2.5 trillion for businesses and municipalities in the U.S., serving clients with over $18.5 trillion in assets and managing more than $67 trillion in assets for individual and institutional clients including mutual funds and retirement plans. SIFMA, with offices in New York and Washington, D.C., is the U.S. regional member of the Global Financial Markets Association (GFMA). For more information, visit http://www.sifma.org.