The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Acting Chairman Michael Piwowar is, to put it mildly, no fan of the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule. But he doesn’t stop there — recent reports say he advocates rethinking a fiduciary standard, period.
Piwowar recently called it a “terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad rule,” according to Financial Planning, and went on to say that he thinks the rule was “never ever about investor protection.”
But Piwowar goes beyond simply voicing opposition to the rule. He indicated to Financial Planning that there is now an opportunity to have what he called a “fulsome” discussion and to approach the matter of a fiduciary standard in a different way.
Among the new circumstances making such an exercise possible, he says, is the freeze he has put in place on rules related to the Dodd-Frank Act, which he notes authorized but did not require the SEC to harmonize the rules for financial professionals serving retail investors and which he further says has not addressed uneven standards of care.
The SEC was to issue its own fiduciary rule, but to date has not yet. Former SEC Chair Mary Jo White on Sept. 27, 2016 had said that the SEC’s version was coming, but “not any time soon.” With the change in administrations, vacancies on the Commission and the stance of the acting SEC chief, when that may happen is no clearer.
Piwowar recently called it a “terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad rule,” according to Financial Planning, and went on to say that he thinks the rule was “never ever about investor protection.”
But Piwowar goes beyond simply voicing opposition to the rule. He indicated to Financial Planning that there is now an opportunity to have what he called a “fulsome” discussion and to approach the matter of a fiduciary standard in a different way.
Among the new circumstances making such an exercise possible, he says, is the freeze he has put in place on rules related to the Dodd-Frank Act, which he notes authorized but did not require the SEC to harmonize the rules for financial professionals serving retail investors and which he further says has not addressed uneven standards of care.
The SEC was to issue its own fiduciary rule, but to date has not yet. Former SEC Chair Mary Jo White on Sept. 27, 2016 had said that the SEC’s version was coming, but “not any time soon.” With the change in administrations, vacancies on the Commission and the stance of the acting SEC chief, when that may happen is no clearer.
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