The Financial Planning Coalition is urging President Obama to include consumer financial protection as a priority in his State of the Union address Tuesday.
The coalition asked President Obama to support the SEC development of a uniform fiduciary standard for broker-dealers who provide personalized investment advice to retail clients.
It also urged the President to encourage Congress to allow the SEC to collect user fees to fill the gap in SEC funding necessary to effectively examine SEC-registered investment advisors.
The coalition is made up of the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc., the Financial Planning Association, and the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors.
“Despite historic reform and an economy that has shown steady improvement since the 2008 financial crisis, President Obama’s efforts to improve investor protection remain a work in progress” the coalition said in a press statement issued Monday.
“We are optimistic the President will use his State of the Union address to outline his plan for ensuring that no American will ever again be exposed to the predatory and deceptive practices that devastated so many families and brought our nation to the brink of financial collapse,” the coalition said.
“Despite the fact that the financial security of many Americans remains at risk, some policymakers continue to resist implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act – three and one-half years after enactment – and instead propose further impediments to these reforms designed to protect the investing public,” the coalition said.
The coalition went on to state, “We urge President Obama to work with Congress, the SEC, the Department of Labor, and other parties to restore trust in our capital markets by appropriate regulation and oversight of those who provide financial advice to American investors and to fulfill the investor protection goals set forth under the Dodd-Frank Act.”