Washington, D.C. – Dennis Kelleher, President and CEO of Better Markets, issued this statement on the industry trade group Financial Services Institute’s (FSI) one-page gimmick attacking the Department of Labor’s best interest rule:

“FSI’s members are made up of financial advisers, such as broker-dealers, who directly benefit from an outdated 40 year-old rule that allows them to put their personal economic interests above their clients’ best interests. As a result, tens of billions of retirement dollars are moving out of Americans’ retirement accounts and into brokers’ bonuses and bank accounts. That’s why the industry is fighting so hard to kill the DOL’s proposed rule that would merely require them to put their clients’ best interests first. Contrary to FSI’s claims, the only thing ‘unworkable’ is a business model that puts brokers first and their clients second. That’s wrong and that’s why America’s most prominent retiree, labor, consumer, and financial reform advocacy groups are fighting for the DOL’s client first rule and why the industry will say and do anything to stop it. Americans deserve better. Their best interests should come first.”

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Better Markets is an independent, nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that promotes the public interest in financial reform in the domestic and global capital and commodity markets. Better Markets advocates for transparency, oversight and accountability with the goal of a stronger, safer financial system that is less prone to crisis and failure thereby eliminating or minimizing the need for more taxpayer funded bailouts. To learn more, visit www.bettermarkets.com.