Washington, D.C. – Dennis Kelleher, President and CEO of Better Markets, issued the following statement in response to legislation introduced by Rep. Ann Wagner that would prevent the release of the Department of Labor’s (DOL) proposed rule to protect Americans from conflicts of interest when brokers and other financial advisers give retirement advice:

“This bill is nothing more than an indefensible attempt to stop the American people from ever seeing a proposed rule to protect their hard-earned retirement savings from conflicts of interest. Protecting the American people’s retirement savings is what DOL is required by law to do. That is not the job of the SEC, which has different laws, missions, and mandates. What are the industry and their allies trying to hide? Releasing this rule would allow for an informed debate based on the facts and not on wild speculation and fear-mongering.”

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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.