Section 911 of the Dodd-Frank Act established the Investor Advisory Committee to advise the SEC on regulatory priorities, the regulation of securities products, trading strategies, fee structures, the effectiveness of disclosure, and on initiatives to protect investor interests and to promote investor confidence and the integrity of the securities marketplace. On November 22, 2013, the Committee issued a recommendation to extend the fiduciary duty to broker-dealers.
The Committee preliminarily stated its conclusion: that personalized investment advice to retail customers should be governed by a fiduciary duty, regardless of whether that advice is provided by an investment adviser or a broker-dealer. In approaching this issue, the Committee noted that the SEC's goal should be to eliminate the regulatory gap that allows broker-dealers to offer investment advice without beings subject to the same fiduciary duty as other investment advisers. However, the Committee noted that the SEC should not eliminate the ability of broker-dealers to offer transaction-specific advice compensated through transaction-based payments.
The Committee made two specific recommendations for action by the SEC. First, the Committee recommended that the SEC should conduct a rulemaking to impose a fiduciary duty on broker-dealers when they provide personalized investment advice to retail investors. Second, as a part of its rulemaking, the SEC should adopt a uniform, plain English disclosure document to be provided to customers and potential customers of broker-dealers and investment advisers that covers basic information about the nature of services offered, fees and compensation, conflicts of interest, and disciplinary record.
In the stated "Supporting Rationale" for its recommendation that the SEC should engage in rulemaking to impose a fiduciary duty on broker-dealers when they provide personal investment advice, the Commission noted that in arriving at this decision they took into account a broad consensus among widely disparate groups that broker-dealers and investment advisers should be subject to a uniform fiduciary standard. The Committee also noted that these various stakeholder groups generally agree that the fiduciary duty should not apply to all brokerage services, but only to those services that fall within a reasonable definition of personalized investment advice to retail customers.
The Committee also addressed some of the limited opposition that exists. First, some argue that broker-dealers are already extensively regulated under existing law and self-regulatory organization rules. The Committee believed, however, that while the existing regulatory scheme may adequately regulate broker-dealers when they act as salespeople, it does not offer adequate investor protection when they offer advisory services, since under the suitability standard they generally remain free to put their own interests ahead of those of their customers. Second, some argue that regulation is not needed because investors are capable of choosing for themselves whether they prefer to work with a broker-dealer operating under a suitability standard or an investment adviser who is a fiduciary. However, the Committee found that various studies had indicated that investors do not distinguish between broker-dealers and investment advisers, do not know that broker-dealers and investment advisers are subject to different legal standards, do not understand the difference between suitability standard and a fiduciary duty, and expect broker-dealers and investment advisers alike to act in their best interests when giving advice and making recommendations.
The Committee noted that the SEC has a range of options available to it in order to implement this regulatory goal. These include the rulemaking authority under Section 913(g) of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, as well as existing authority under the Investment Advisers Act to regulate non-incidental advice by broker-dealers.
The Committee's second recommendation was that the Commission should adopt a uniform, plain English disclosure document to be provided to customers and potential customers of broker-dealers and investment advisers. The Committee believed that improved disclosure was necessary to help investors select a financial professional. Relevant topics could include what services are provided, how the broker-dealer or investment adviser is compensated, and what conflicts of interest exist.
The Committee's recommendation is another step towards the establishment of a fiduciary duty standard for broker-dealers. This position has already been applauded by the NASAA, which in a statement supporting the recommendation said that: "A fiduciary standard for broker-dealers will guarantee that all financial professionals providing investment advice will act in the best interests of their clients, and in turn, enhance investor confidence in the financial services industry and securities markets."
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