SEC Regulation Best Interest: The Competition For Fiduciary Oversight - Aite Group’s Latest Report Explores New Regulation Introduced By The SEC That Is Designed To Enhance Investor Protection.

SEC Regulation Best Interest: The Competition for Fiduciary Oversight, the most recent Aite Group report, examines the implications from a new rule introduced by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) supporting client best interest. Competing interests of many industry incumbents are at odds. At the center of the debate is whether broker-dealers should be held to a uniform fiduciary standard in line with registered investment advisors. With many states looking to enhance investor protection, the regulation will continue to fuel an ongoing debate centered on the scope of best interest.

“Disclosure requirements are fairly expansive, and it remains to be seen if this will be a point of confusion for investors or hinder a broker-dealer’s ability to acquire new clients,” states Greg O’Gara, senior analyst at Aite Group.

This new report sets out to disentangle the regulation, provide additional clarity around the variables embedded in the rules, and illuminate the views of the rule’s advocates and detractors. The analysis in this report leverages SEC documents, SEC comment letters, and selected interviews with U.S. industry incumbents conducted in the second and third quarters of 2019.