SEC Archives - Page 11 of 21 - Americans for Financial Reform

Joint Letter: Report to SEC Highlights Disclosure Weaknesses of Broker Standards Rule

Given the evidence that, after being provided a summary relationship disclosure, investors still cannot fully understand, and in some cases misunderstand, fundamental differences in the nature of the brokerage and advisory relationships and the respective duties they are owed, the different fees they would pay, or how various conflicts of interest can influence the recommendations they receive, a regulatory regime that relies on disclosure for investors to make an informed decision about what type of financial professional to work with and what type of account to use is certain to fail.

Letters to Regulators: AFR Education Fund sent a comment letter to the SEC regarding proposed rules on broker-dealer and swap dealer capital requirements.

Click here to download a PDF version of the letter.

Letters to Regulators: Letter to the SEC opposing efforts to weaken shareholder rights

AFR opposes policy proposals that would silence shareholders voice and that would make it harder for proxy advisory firms to advise investors.

News Release: SEC Advisory Committee Right to Seek Major Changes to Broker Standards Proposal

What we heard today from the diverse membership of the SEC’s own advisory committee is that they share our view that the proposed Reg BI would not protect investors. The IAC has called on the SEC to instead pass rules that make clear that brokers have a legal obligation to act in the best interests of their clients.

News Release: Consumer Groups Criticize SEC Investor-Protection Proposal During Agency Roundtable in Baltimore

The SEC’s proposed “Regulation Best Interest” is anything but, a plan for creating a veneer of investor protection that would fail to chase bad practices out of the industry that cost savers $40 billion per year. Many savers fall victim to brokers who steer them into investments that pay lucrative fees but don’t generate the best possible return for investors.

Letters to Regulators: AFR Education Fund submitted a letter to the SEC regarding proposed amendments to the Whistleblower Program rules

Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund sent a letter to the SEC regarding proposed amendments to the Commission’s Whistleblower Program rules. While we generally support a few of the proposed amendments, we are concerned that a number other proposed changes would initially undermine the Whistleblower

They took a broker’s self-serving advice. It cost them about $30,000 in retirement savings.

AFR in the News: Trump Asks SEC to Study Quarterly Earnings Requirements for Public Firms (NY Times)

“’Quarterly disclosures are very important. A lot can happen in six months, and it’s just not appropriate to reduce disclosures,’ said Marcus Stanley, the policy director for Americans for Financial Reform, a coalition of foundations, unions and public interest groups that pushes for stronger financial regulation. ‘It’s just going to advantage insiders further.’”

AFR/CFA Memo: SEC Broker Standards Proposal Falls Far Short

Brokers too often steer investors into poorly performing, high-cost investments that are profitable for the broker, but bad for individual investors. The Securities and Exchange Commission has proposed a new regulation that purports to address the problem, but its remedy is too vague and too weak. By creating a veneer of protection, but not the reality, it would deliver a false sense of security that could leave investors worse off than they are now.

Joint Letter: SEC Broker Proposal Fails To Establish Strong Standard or Mitigate Conflicts

The rule’s most significant failing is that it does not establish a clear uniform best interest standard, one that is no less stringent than that found in the Investment Advisers’ Act, for all professionals who provide investment advice to retail clients. Instead, it adopts a weaker standard for broker-dealers that falls short of a true best interest standard and does not adequately address the conflicts of interest that too often are permitted to taint broker-dealers’ recommendations.