From: Maginn, Stephen A. [Stephen.Maginn@pimcofunds.com] Sent: Tuesday, June 25, 2002 6:00 PM To: rule-comments@sec.gov Subject: File # S7-25-99 Dear Sir or Madam, With all the recent concern over the integrity of corporate governance and, specifically, the independence and credibility of the large financial services firms, I can’t believe that the watchdog for the consumer, the SEC, is proposing to adopt a rule which exempts the largest players in the business from standards that others must meet. To suggest that the advice rendered by the large brokerage firms is only ‘incidental’ to their business is laughable. Listen to/watch their ads. Every one of them is talking about financial planning advice. They all publicly admit that unless they can offer high quality ‘advice’ to their clients, they have nothing unique to offer. Every big firm has set up trust departments, mortgage specialists, tax teams, etc. to try to capture a larger portion of the client’s ‘wallet’. All advice driven. They are all driving a ‘pricing model’ based on fees as opposed to transactional commissions. Please don’t make a mockery of your watchdog position and add to the current level of consumer distrust of our industry. Resist the temptation to cave in to the huge legal muscle that these firms can bring to bear, and do the right thing; withdraw the proposed rule. Thank you! Stephen A. Maginn, Trustee Foundation for Financial Planning