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How the Rise of the Feel-Good Reg BI Was the Downfall of the 'Fiduciary Movement'

"[T]he new SEC rule is the suitability standard with two modifications. It cynically co-opts the fiduciary industry's 'best-interest' phrasing and treats more misbehaviors as technical breaches.... But in practice, the breaches are allowable because Reg BI arms brokers with ways to disclose away almost anything in the small print. The SEC accomplished one objective of the fiduciary movement -- regulatory harmonization for all advisors. But at a steep price. It made sure advisors and brokers appear to be conflicted alike."

As President Obama Takes the Gloves Off, Pro-Broker Groups Throw Up 'Sledgehammer' Response

" 'There are a whole lot of financial advisors that do put their clients first. There are a whole lot of hard working men and women in the field who got into the field to help people.' Those words were not spoken by Ron Rhoades, Harold Evensky or Knut Rostad. Rather, they were delivered by President Barack Obama at AARP headquarters in Washington, D.C. as he announced stricter rules on financial advisors who manage retirement savings accounts.... Sentiments like those and ones like them (Obama referred to 'selling snake oil) passing the lips of the world's most powerful politician were taken as a positive, if surreal, sign of serious progress on the fiduciary front. Yet the brokerage establishment sees these comments as fighting words."