Put the National Black Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) in the “nay” column. The Hill reports the business organization believes the regulatory proposal to be “harmful” for financial advisors.
The Hill notes NBCC, which represents 100,000 black-owned businesses and has more than 140 nationwide chapters, argued that the proposal would raise costs for low-income Americans seeking financial advice and create a regulatory burden for small businesses.
“The new DOL regulations will likely result in fewer commission-based services in the marketplace, leaving only fee-based and managed account services that are not affordable options for many individuals in our communities,” NBCC president and CEO Harry C. Alford President wrote in a letter sent Wednesday to Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary Thomas Perez and members of Congress.
The NBCC letter, obtained first by The Hill, comes after two prominent members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) spoke out against the proposal last month.
The latest letter comes on the heels of one circulated by Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Mo., in late July. Wagner, Andy Barr, R-Ky., David Scott, D-Ga., and Lacy Clay, D-Mo., sent the letter to the DOL warning that the fiduciary proposal put forward by the Obama administration could limit access to quality financial advice for the middle class.
Last week, Perez and the administration countered that “fiduciary rules are needed to better protect consumers from getting bad advice from their advisers, who could be benefitting off commission sales from financial institutions,” according to The Hill.
“We will move forward towards issuing a Final Rule that balances the input we have received,” Perez wrote to Wagner. “The Department has undertaken incredibly thorough public outreach over the past five years as we have designed this proposal. When I became Labor Secretary two years ago, I committed to slowing down the process to ensure that all voices could be heard.”
Perez told Wagner that DOL officials “continue to welcome input on how to refine and streamline this proposal so that when we publish a Final Rule, we can all be sure it is reflective of relevant input and achieves its desired goals.”
The Hill notes that DOL officials are having a hearing this week, which critics contend is little more than political theater as DOL officials continue to aggressively move toward implementation.
See Also:
- Lawsuit Filed to Block DOL’s 401(k) Fiduciary Rule
- Lawsuit Filed to Block DOL’s 401(k) Fiduciary Rule
With more than 20 years serving financial markets, John Sullivan is the former editor-in-chief of Investment Advisor magazine and retirement editor of ThinkAdvisor.com. Sullivan is also the former editor of Boomer Market Advisor and Bank Advisor magazines, and has a background in the insurance and investment industries in addition to his journalism roots.
