FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, October 18, 2018
Contact: Nick Jacobs, 202-618-6430 or njacobs@bettermarkets.com
WHAT HAS THE SEC LEARNED FROM ITS INVESTOR TESTING AND WHY WASN’T IT CONDUCTED SOONER?
BETTER MARKETS FILES FOIA REQUEST TO FIND OUT
Washington, D.C. – Following today’s filing of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for all records related to the investor testing that the SEC has reportedly been conducting in connection with the Commission’s proposed Regulation Best Interest and Form CRS, Better Markets Legal Director and Securities Specialist Stephen Hall issued the following statement:
“The public has a right to know, before these important rule proposals become final, what investor testing has been done by the SEC and what it shows about the proposals: Will the disclosure requirements confuse investors even more, as other independent testing indicates, or will they really help explain the duties that different types of advisors owe their clients? And why was the testing conducted after the rule was written instead of beforehand? This FOIA request seeks answers to these questions, so that Americans striving for a safe and secure financial future can evaluate the disclosure provisions for themselves.
“Of course, no matter what the testing shows, the SEC must overhaul its proposals to make sure they include a strong and simple standard that unequivocally requires all financial advisors to put their clients’ best interest first. The American people have been promised that the SEC’s proposed “best interest” rule would protect investors from the powerful conflicts of interest that siphon away billions of dollars of their hard-earned savings every year. No rule can achieve that goal with even the best disclosures. But at a minimum, the rule shouldn’t make matters worse with disclosures that investors won’t read or understand. As time marches on and the proposal gets closer to final form, the public is entitled to know how good—or bad—those disclosure provisions really are.”
[The FOIA Request to the SEC can be found here]
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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.com.
