Buddy Donohue, Back at SEC, Could Boost Chances of VA Summary Prospectus Rule

Retirement policy experts are counting on Wall Street veteran Andrew “Buddy” Donohue’s recent return to the Securities and Exchange Commission to boost the chances that a VA summary prospectus rule will finally see the light of day.

Buddy Donohue, the SEC’s former Investment Management director who rejoined the agency in June as SEC Chairwoman Mary Jo White’s chief of staff, “has publicly supported a variable annuity summary prospectus rule in the past, and we believe he will continue to,” said Lee Covington, senior vice president and general counsel for the Insured Retirement Institute.

Former SEC Commissioner Troy Paredes said at the IRI event that the agency moving forward on a VA summary prospectus has “been an issue near and dear to my heart,” and that it would be a “good step forward.” He added that “there is some opening for movement” on a VA prospectus under the SEC’s “disclosure review [initiative] that’s underway at the commission.”

Paredes also noted that there are “no disputes” among the SEC Commissioners about approving such a prospectus, which would be similar to a mutual fund prospectus. “This will bode well for completing this initiative,” Covington added.