SIFMA Statement on Confirmation of Labor Secretary Acosta

Washington, DC, April 27, 2017 – SIFMA today released the following statement from Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr., SIFMA president and CEO, on the confirmation of Alexander Acosta as Secretary of Labor:

“SIFMA congratulates Alexander Acosta on his confirmation as Secretary of Labor.  We look forward to working with Mr. Acosta on a wide range of important issues.

“We strongly urge Secretary Acosta to take immediate action to further delay implementation of the Fiduciary Duty Rule by a minimum of 180 days beyond the current June 9, 2017 applicability date.  The DOL’s Fiduciary Duty Rule will adversely affect the ability of millions of Americans to save for retirement, increase the costs of retirement accounts while limiting access to advice and products, and vastly increase the amount of litigation.  As required by President Trump’s February 3, 2017 Presidential Memorandum, the DOL needs to prepare an updated economic and legal analysis concerning the likely impact of the Fiduciary Duty Rule.  This review will take time and Secretary Acosta should immediately delay the June 9th implementation date while the required review is ongoing.”

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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.