WASHINGTON, D.C.— Benjamin Schiffrin, Director of Securities Policy for Better Markets, issued the following statement in connection with Better Markets’ new Fact Sheet entitled “A Capital Markets Agenda that Puts Investors First”: 

“Our capital markets are not a tool for the financial industry to extract wealth from everyday Americans. They are a means to save for a house, pay for college, or prepare for retirement. Yet all too often Wall Street preys on Main Street for its own financial gain. This needs to stop. Instead, policymakers must pursue a capital markets agenda that puts investors first. 

“Today’s Senate hearing,  ‘Empowering Main Street by Unlocking Access to Capital,’  should focus on ways to keep money in the pockets of Main Street rather than transferring money to the coffers of Wall Street. Fortunately, there are several steps that policymakers can take: 

• The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Department of Labor (DOL) should adopt strong fiduciary rules that require broker-dealers and investment advisers to always act in the best interests of their clients and that protect retirees from conflicts of interest whenever they receive investment advice. 

• The SEC should adopt a rule imposing a duty of best execution on brokers so that they must attempt to ensure that investors receive the best prices for their trades. 

• The SEC should address the fragmentation that plagues our markets by leveling the playing field between exchanges and alternative trading systems, banning the practice of payment for order flow, and implementing a central limit order book to prevent high-frequency trading firms from essentially front-running trades.  

• Policymakers should revitalize our public securities markets by curtailing the exemptions that have flooded the market with risky and expensive private assets. 

• Policymakers should insulate our capital markets from the gamification of finance through artificial intelligence, 24/7 trading, and novel exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which all have the potential to blur the line between investing and gambling. 

“We need a financial system that puts the interests of investors first instead of one that allows Wall Street to profit at investors’ expense. There are numerous commonsense reforms that policymakers can adopt to protect investors and allow them to keep more of their own money. Enacting these reforms is the real way to empower Main Street investors.” 

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Better Markets is a non-profit, non-partisan, and independent organization founded in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis to promote the public interest in the financial markets, support the financial reform of Wall Street and make our financial system work for all Americans again. Better Markets works with allies—including many in finance—to promote pro-market, pro-business and pro-growth policies that help build a stronger, safer financial system that protects and promotes Americans’ jobs, savings, retirements and more. To learn more, visit www.bettermarkets.org.