The Financial Planning Coalition has endorsed President Barack Obama’s nomination of Mary Jo White as chairwoman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, calling it a "strong statement in support of investor protection."
"The years of experience Mary Jo White has in prosecuting white-collar criminals are a testament to her commitment to safeguarding investors and the public,” the FPC said in a press release.
“The Financial Planning Coalition looks forward to Ms. White bringing this same level of ‘consumer-first’ commitment to the SEC,” the FPC said. "This includes leading the SEC in continuing to implement the Dodd-Frank law—specifically, carrying out the SEC staff’s own recommendation of extending the fiduciary standard to broker-dealers who provide personalized investment advice to retail clients.”
In a separate statement, the Financial Service Institute, an advocacy group for independent financial services firms and advisors, congratulated White on the appointment.
“An experienced and effective SEC chair, collaborating with investors and the industry, is critical to fulfilling the SEC’s mission of investor protection and maintaining fair, orderly and efficient capital markets,” FSI president and CEO Dale Brown said in a statement. “We look forward to working with her to preserve money market mutual funds and create an effective and efficient fiduciary standard.”
The FPC is a collaboration of three of the nation's largest financial advisor organizations: the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, the Financial Planning Association and the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors. The groups collectively have more than 75,000 members.
The FSI represents over 100 independent financial services firm members and over 35,000 financial advisor members.