With the submission of the SEC’s brief, the next step will be a response from the parties that brought the suit, including the XY Planning Network, said Michael Kitces, the organization’s co-founder, who has said that he will reply with a legal brief but wants a court resolution.
The chances of the lawsuit prevailing are better than many may think, according to policy experts who have won legal challenges against the SEC.
“This rulemaking process was highly controversial and it’s not surprising that legal challenges have been filed to overturn Reg BI,” Thompson said.
“The whole exercise begs the question: Why fight the marketplace, which years ago established a clear preference for fiduciary-managed portfolios? Had the SEC crafted a uniform fiduciary standard for brokers and investment advisors … consistent with the Advisers Act fiduciary standard, it could have probably avoided this whole problem in the first place,” Thompson added.