FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, July 23, 2015
Contact: Jeff Gohringer, 202-618-6430 or jgohringer@bettermarkets.com
**Fact Sheet Attached, click here to view the comment letter**
Washington, DC — Better Markets President and CEO Dennis Kelleher released this statement following the filing of a comment letter in support of the Department of Labor’s best interest rule to protect Americans from conflicts of interest when brokers and other financial advisers provide retirement investment advice:
“The 40 year-old rule that allows brokers to put their interests above their clients’ best interests when seeking retirement advice must end. That’s what the Department of Labor’s proposed ‘client’s best interest first’ fiduciary duty rule does, which will save Americans saving for retirement tens of billions of dollars a year.
The retirement landscape has profoundly changed since the old rule was first adopted in 1975, and it’s time to finally close the 40 year-old loophole and require everyone providing retirement investment advice to act solely in the best interests of their clients. Our letter rebuts the groundless arguments from those in the financial services industry who have made the defeat of this rule their top priority, so they can keep an average of $43 billion going into brokers’ pockets every year instead of their clients’ retirement accounts. The status quo is unacceptable. The President and the Department of Labor should continue standing up to Wall Street’s special interests and finalize the strongest rule possible as quickly as possible to help tens of millions of Americans build the dignified retirement they expect and deserve.”
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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.
