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June 24, 2019 at 10:10 PM
House Financial Services Committee Chairwoman Maxine Waters, D-Calif., wants to block the Securities and Exchange Commission from enforcing Regulation Best Interest.
Waters offered an amendment to the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Act of 2020, H.R. 3351, to prohibit the SEC from using funds to enforce Reg BI.
The House Rules Committee voted late Monday evening to accept Waters’ amendment for House floor consideration to H.R. 3351. Waters’ amendment may now be taken up on the House floor as soon as Wednesday.
Reg BI was approved by the SEC on June 5.
Her amendment, No. 78, to the bill, prohibits the SEC from “implementing, administering, enforcing or publicizing the final rules and interpretations” of Reg BI, “The Broker-Dealer Standard of Conduct.”
The Insured Retirement Institute said it opposes Waters’ amendment, stating that Reg BI “should move forward and be given time to work. The just-approved regulation will offer a substantial enhancement to investor protections over current law.”
IRI argued that the new requirements on the broker-dealer industry “are considerable and the existing enforcement mechanisms applicable to Reg BI are rigorous.” Reg BI, the annuity group said, “and parallel efforts at the National Association of Insurance Commissioners offer an opportunity for regulatory harmonization. This is particularly important as a number of states pursue standard of conduct regulations that threaten to impose a patchwork of confusing, conflicting requirements that may harm consumers’ ability to obtain services to help them reach their financial goals.”
