Industry groups say Borzi’s efforts are misplaced, because if there are brokers who take advantage of clients, they’re a tiny minority. The Securities and Exchange Commission, the states and self-regulatory organizations already police the industry for such conflicts, they add.

“There is no evidence of a crisis, no evidence of a problem,” said Kenneth Bentsen, president of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, known as Sifma, Wall Street’s largest lobbying group.

‘Happy Face’

The story of Borzi’s quest shows how one individual in the government can drive a policy forward by dint of her own will and conviction. Yet her failure thus far is a lesson in what happens when that idea collides with longstanding business practices that involve trillions of dollars.

Borzi’s most recent setback came late last month when the Labor Department quietly issued a notice postponing her proposal until January. It had been expected to be released in August. The move left her small band of supporters outside government wondering if their chances for success were waning.

“I don’t know how you put a happy face on it,” said Knut Rostad, a compliance officer at an investment advisory firm and founder of the Institute for the Fiduciary Standard. “If someone was going to be sober about it, they’d say we are running out of years.”

Borzi (pronounced BOR-zhee) has been unusually silent since the delay, which comes after she was forced to withdraw her original fiduciary regulation in 2011. Her spokesman Mike Trupo didn’t respond to requests for an interview.

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