FPA Calls for Major Regulatory Reform

In a long, comprehensive comment letter filled with references to the history of financial regulation in the United States, the Financial Planning Association told the Treasury Department on Nov. 16 that it agreed with Treasury’s plans to review the current financial regulatory structures, “along with ways to improve efficiency, reduce overlap, and strengthen consumer and investor protections.”

The letter came in response to Treasury’s Oct. 11 call for comments on its proposed review, part of Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s stated initiative to improve the global competitiveness of the U.S. financial services industry.

FPA noted in its comment letter that “regulatory reform for advice-givers is long overdue,” and stressed its position that while there has been a long, “steady increase in firms offering comprehensive advice to the public . . . that cuts across regulatory lines,” the problem is that those firms are operating under “inconsistent standards of care.”