FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, October 27, 2015
Contact: Jeff Gohringer, 202-618-6430 or jgohringer@bettermarkets.com
Better Markets Statement on the Wagner Bill, the Lynch Amendment and Wall Street’s Latest Attempt to Kill the DOL’s Best Interest Rule
Washington, DC — Dennis Kelleher, President and CEO of Better Markets, issued the following statement on the upcoming vote in the U.S. House of Representatives on the Wagner bill, which is designed to kill the Department of Labor’s (DOL) proposed rule to protect Americans from conflicts of interest when brokers and other financial advisers give retirement advice:
“The DOL has worked long and hard to develop a balanced rule proposal that will protect American workers and retirees saving for retirement. It will close 40-year old loopholes that allow Wall Street brokers and other financial advisers to put their own economic interests above the best interests of their clients saving for retirement. The DOL should be allowed to finish this important job without delay or interference.
“The American people have already waited too long for their best interests to be put first and it would be wrong to force the DOL to wait for the SEC to act, as the Wagner bill would require. The SEC does not even have the legal authority to update rules on advice about retirement accounts, and it hasn’t even begun its own rulemaking process, which would take years to complete. In contrast, Representative Stephen Lynch has the right idea in his amendment: allowing the DOL to finalize its long overdue rule, and requiring the SEC to finally act to replace its weak rules that fail to protect securities investors from conflicted securities advice.”
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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.
