FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 5, 2019

CONTACT: Carter Dougherty, carter@ourfinancialsecurity.org, (202) 251-6700

AFR Statement on SEC Approval of Reg BI

Today, the SEC finalized a rule that will allow financial professionals to claim they are required to act in investors’ best interests. But “Regulation Best Interest” falls far short of what ordinary investors need to ensure they don’t fall prey to self-interested advice.

Heather Slavkin Corzo, senior fellow at Americans for Financial Reform, issued the following statement:

“Working people invest trillions of dollars in the financial markets to save for retirement, our children’s education, or to buy a home.

When working people seek out investment advice, they expect and deserve to be able to rely on the people providing that advice to prioritize their need for a secure financial future over the financial professional’s interest in getting rich.

The SEC has failed to set rules that meet that basic standard. This regulation will create a false sense of security among investors that those they rely on for financial advice really are acting in their best interest, when, in many circumstances, that will not be the case.

The rule finalized by the SEC today will cost working people tens of billions of dollars each year.  We are grateful to Commissioner Jackson for fighting to make it better. But, the SEC has failed in its mission to protect investors, and ordinary investors will pay the price for years to come.”

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