July 30, 2010
The current compliance and regulatory environment for registered representatives of broker/dealer firms already requires appropriate disclosure and suitibility determination for financial product sales to their clients. The Dodd-Frank Act allows the SEC to require a fiduciary standard of "best practices" on registered representatives. However, the Act does not define what consitutes "best" practices and therefore opens RRs and their firms to a potentially endless stream of litigation. The SEC should NOT subject RRs to a vague standard when disclosures and firm practices already assure suitabiity of product based on client expressed needs and concerns. Instead, the SEC and FINRA should continue to focus it's efforts to pursue and punish the more eggregious and flagrant abuses of the current fiduciary standard that requires documentation of suitable sales based upon a particular client's situation.