August 2, 2010
I am certainly in favor of regulatory reform that holds Broker Dealers, Hedge Fund, and Private Bankers to a higher reporting Relationship with the SEC, however further layers of regulation upon the individual Registered Rep or Series 7 Broker is not the way to attain the goals of consumer protection desired.
We are required to take many hours of CE, and the Firm element training Annually. We file our compliance documents to our BD annually, which always deals with ethics and ethical procedures.
Reading the information provided, I fail to see how these additional layers of regulation will prevent the scandals and fraud perpetuated by Madoff and others. These were breakdowns in SEC procedures that were already in place and it's inability to enforce them primarily due to a lack of manpower.
Please consider retricting the reform to the institutions and not the indidual who makes their living assisting others in securing their financial future.
Thank you.
Stephen J. Tarbe
CRD#2297398