WASHINGTON, D.C., Sept. 30, 2015—The Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA or the Big “I”) applauds the U.S. House Financial Services Committee for today’s action on H.R. 1090, the “Retail Investor Protection Act,” by Rep. Ann Wagner (R-Missouri). The committee considered H.R. 1090 and reported the bill for consideration by the full House.

 

“Rep. Wagner’s bill includes a number of important provisions and due process requirements to ensure that consumers are not harmed by the proposed Department of Labor fiduciary rule and we thank the House Financial Services Committee for today’s action,” says Charles Symington, Big “I” senior vice president of external and federal government affairs.

 

“The Big “I” is greatly concerned that agents, brokers and the consumers they serve would be adversely affected by the establishment of a universal fiduciary standard of care promulgated by the DOL. As currently structured, the rule promises to create undue compliance burdens and increased liability for the association’s small business membership, thereby increasing costs for consumers and restricting access to quality investment advice for those most in need,” continues Symington.

 

Broker-dealers already adhere to rigorous and strictly-enforced standards of care, and strong regulatory regimes with meaningful market conduct, supervisory, record-keeping and other mandates already in place. Altering the standard of care is not a panacea that will eliminate bad actors and bad behavior.  By certifying that conflicting rules are not imposed on broker-dealers, and by further studying the current investment market landscape, Rep. Wagner’s bill is a common sense solution to ensuring that affordable and accessible investment advice is available to all kinds of investors.

 

Founded in 1896, the Big “I” is the nation’s oldest and largest national association of independent insurance agents and brokers, representing a network of more than 300,000 agents, brokers and their employees nationally. Its members are businesses that offer customers a choice of policies from a variety of insurance companies. Independent agents and brokers offer all lines of insurance—property, casualty, life, health, employee benefit plans and retirement products. Web address: www.independentagent.com.

 

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