House Committee Holds Hearing, ''Preserving Retirement Security and Investment Choices for All Americans''

On September 10, the House Financial Services Committee, Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises held a hearing to a discuss the Department of Labor fiduciary rulemaking proposals.

A number of members of the committee majority criticized the DOL's proposed rules and Subcommittee Chairman Scott Garrett (R-NJ) remarked that "[I]t's pretty clear that the biggest impact of this rule is going to be felt far from Wall Street - and millions of middle or lower income households may ultimately have no place to go for advice."

Members at the hearing also discussed a bill introduced by Representative Ann Wagner (R-MO) that would require the proposed fiduciary rule to first be issued by the SEC. The Financial Services Committee highlighted that "similar legislation passed the House two years ago with bipartisan support."

SIFMA issued a statement regarding the hearing, asserting that the DOL's proposed retirement rule "represents a failure in public policy" that "is so broad, subjective, and ambiguous in certain areas that it will be impossible to build operational systems and processes to ensure compliance."