‘Appeasing’ Obama

White also faces resistance internally from her two Republican colleagues on the commission. One, Daniel Gallagher, recently questioned the need for a rule, asking whether the SEC would be looking to solve a problem or “appeasing the White House.”

That forces White to negotiate the outlines of the policy with the SEC’s two Democrats, Luis Aguilar and Kara Stein. Aguilar has said the agency should move with haste on a rule.

The Labor Department is already pushing ahead; its proposal is undergoing a final administration review before it will be released for public comment. With the SEC lagging, the industry says it needs to move quickly.

“It would at least be good for the SEC to figure out what it is going to do so everybody can see how the two proposals would work together,” said David Hirschmann, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Center for Capital Markets Competitiveness. “With the White House supporting the Labor Department, there is real fear about what the result will be, which is even more confusion for investors.”

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