January 25, 2005
I am requesting that there be a complete withdrawal of the propsal that Brokers be exempt from the Investment Advisors Act. I believe that when brokers are acting in the capacity of advisors that they should be subject to the same regulatory requirements as any advisor and held to the scrutiny of those regulators in order to protect the public, whether the advice is incidental or not. This so called incidental advice can be very harmful to the public when it comes from someone who is not held to the standards the public deserves.