Do we really need more deliberation on the fiduciary standard, commissioner?

In a recent speech before the National Association of Plan Advisors, SEC Commissioner Michael Piwowar suggested the commission needs to take “a measured and deliberative approach” to the question of whether brokers who offer personalized investment advice to average mom-and-pop investors should have to act in the best interests of those investors. Since the Securities and Exchange Commission has been actively deliberating the “standard of care” for nearly a decade now, I think we can check that box. Moreover, given the questionable arguments Mr. Piwowar puts forward against rule making, it is hard to believe further “deliberation” would make any difference to his views. Mr. Piwowar started his speech with what has become a signature line: “As demonstrated by the endurance and passion of arguments on all sides, this question is not just really hard to answer. It is really, really, really hard — with three “reallys.’” However, the broker-dealer trade associations that once adamantly opposed a best-interests standard have now embraced it. The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, a trade group of securities firms, for example, has publicly declared its support for SEC rule making to impose a uniform fiduciary standard on broker-dealers and investment advisers. Other major stakeholder groups representing investors, broker-dealers, investment advisers, financial planners and state securities regulators have all agreed that Section 913 of the Dodd-Frank Act provides an appropriate framework for commission rule making. It is true that important differences remain over details of how a regulation should be drafted, but when is that not the case? More in Investment News here.