If retail investors are to be given access to private investments, the only route to do that in any significant way is by using SEC-registered investment companies or business development companies as a conduit. Ms. Blass' initiatives are on the right track and should be further developed.

The partisan divide over payday lending is an interesting policy issue with reasonable arguments to be made on both sides. In general, the Democrats want to limit or prevent persons from accessing this kind of credit given that the terms are onerous or unclear. The Republicans take the position that borrowers in need of small dollar loans are better off having some source of credit, even if it is expensive.

This NYDFS letter appears to be largely meant for public consumption, rather than as a serious policy or legal challenge.

The DOL's proposed rule is intended to make clear that ERISA plan fiduciaries have an obligation to invest so as to maximize returns to retirees, and fiduciaries may not "subordinate" that obligation to a non-financial objective, such as ESG investing. In return, NYDFS argues that ESG-motivated investments produce competitive if not superior returns.

If…

The regulators have put broker-dealers on notice that they should rev up the SARs filing engine.