More On Legal & Compliance
from The Advisor's Professional Library- Anti-Fraud Provisions of the Investment Advisers Act RIAs and IARs should view themselves as fiduciaries at all times, whether they meet the legal definition or not. Deviating from the fiduciary standard of full disclosure while courting clients may cause the advisor significant problems.
- Pay-to-Play Rule Violating the pay-to-play rule can result in serious consequences, and RIAs should adopt robust policies and procedures to prevent and detect contributions made to influence the selection of the firm by a government entity.
House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank (D-Massachusetts) voted against the Harkin amendment, stating that dual oversight of equity-indexed annuities by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the states was the best way to go.
However, Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Alabama) ranking minority member on the House Financial Services Committee, said that over the last two years the "states did an excellent job of regulating the insurance industry." Regulating EIAs as securities, Bachus argued, would "lead to other insurance policies being classified as securities," like whole life policies. He questioned whether it was wise to put yet another product under the SEC's oversight when the agency is "struggling."
Rep. Scott Garrett (R-New Jersey) concurred with Bachus, stating that the "record shows that the states have regulated these [EIA] products appropriately."
