An RIA association thinks that FINRA is going to make a play to oversee investment advisers, calling the effort “inevitable” but not “imminent.” Driven by a shrinking brokerage industry and lower revenue, FINRA is looking to capitalize on the fact that only 8% of the 11,000 RIAs are examined by the SEC because of limited personnel, according to an IIA lobbyist who spoke at a meeting last week. FINRA has made moves to take over in the past, but it has backed off recently.
The issue may become moot if the SEC’s budget request to hire more examiners is approved. Meanwhile, the IIA supports a bill by Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) to impose fees on advisers to pay for hiring 250 more SEC examiners.
There seems to be a convergence of so-called brokers and advisers anyway, with more “fiduciary” talk from FINRA, the SEC’s uniform fiduciary initiative and the DOL’s redefinition of fiduciary rule. Perhaps oversight by one group is the next step.
