Congress is currently addressing the obligations of brokers and investments advisers to clients.
Sen. Christopher Dodd (D., Conn.), chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, circulated draft legislation in November that required stockbrokers to put their clients' interest first, as investment advisors are required to do now. The planning coalition would like this provision to remain in any legislation that moves through the Senate.
The group, which has hired a lobbyist, is also "searching for a champion" on the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee to introduce the concept of financial planner oversight in proposed legislation, Glovsky says.
The House of Representatives passed its own financial-services reform package in late 2009, which calls for the Securities and Exchange Commission to define a fiduciary standard and determine when it applies to the various categories of financial advisors. The legislation also calls for the Government Accountability Office to conduct a study on gaps in the regulation of financial advisors.
If this study is included in a final bill from Congress, it would give the coalition a platform to continue pushing their cause, the group says.
Opponents of oversight for planners include insurance and securities groups that say it would add an unnecessary layer of regulation.
Still, the coalition remains hopeful.
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