August 24, 2010
There are enough regulations that the "average" broker-dealer have to comply with to protect their clients. If the SEC had been enforcing the current laws, Bernie Madoff would not have been able to do what he did. He did not follow current fidicuary rules and the rest must pay for his and similar errors. I currently must document all conversations, submit all correspondance before sending out to the compliance person, get 10 hours of CE annually, take an exam every several years to determine my competence with laws and actions, etc., all of which is very time comsuming and expensive to both client and myself. Another layer will add costs which client must pay or share in cost and for no reason. Each client must have documented personal investor profile with updates and changes, investment objective and other information to determine if investment choice is feasible. I am not a stock broker and do not need to have same regulations apply to insurance persons with only series 6 and 63 licenses apply to others with series 7 etc. That is one of the purpuses of different licenses. To make all comply with more stringent regulations must mean there is no difference in these various licenses? Will that eventually apply to health insurance and property and casualty insurance? If the government persons are to handle and give better advice, I hope they are more informed than IRS, Social Security, Medicare and other departments where you must call several times to try and get the same answer twice. The public doesn't want to deal with more government interference in more aspects of personal life.