February 5, 2005
The commission should not in any way dilute the protection that investors need when they seek investment or planning advice. The safeguards should be based on what the provider does, not what he or she is called.
If some one puts up a sign on a building and calls it a church, but carries on illegal activities inside, law enforcement authorities certainly can not ignore what is going on, merely because it is called a church. By the same token, the commission should state once and for all that providing advice makes you a fiduciary, and you will be held to that standard.
Please withdraw the proposed rules and issue new rules protecting the public in the most unequivocal terms possible. Thank you.