Are the inmates really running the asylum?

Donald Trump recently announced that he will try to undercut many provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act and, even more incredibly, try to rescind a Department of Labor rule that would require broker to act as fiduciaries – that is, in their clients’ best interests – when advising them about their individual retirement accounts and 401(k) plans.

As a former federal securities regulator and financial services industry attorney for almost 35 years, I am troubled by this administration’s attempt to remove important consumer safeguards. I would certainly hope that brokers always try to act in their clients’ best interest, especially when overseeing critically important retirement accounts. Why would any reputable financial service provider object to such a common-sense requirement ?

And, while the rules adopted under Dodd-Frank are not perfect, they came about because of substantial overreaching and lack of oversight in the financial services sector, which led, in part, to the financial markets’ collapse in 2008-09.

Attempting to dismantle anything that offers consumer protection seems to be the mantra of this new administration. Let the investing public beware!

Kenneth Spirer

Portland


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