The draft White House memo about the DOL's pending fiduciary definition proposal continues to engender negative reaction. Tim Pawlenty, CEO of the Financial Services Roundtable, weighed in on Jan. 28, ThinkAdvisor reports, calling the memo “overly broad” in its condemnation of the financial services industry.
Pawlenty acknowledged that there may be concerns about the behavior of some brokers, but said that the remedy should not be so broad and burdensome that it comes at the expense of making advice available to moderate- and low-income investors. Not only that, he added, the memo propounded sweeping action without even citing specific data.
The latest iteration of the fiduciary redefinition proposal, rechristened by Obama administration officials last year as "the conflict of interest rule," had not yet reached the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as of Feb. 2. OMB will conduct a 90-day review of the proposal once it receives it, though a shorter “expedited” review period is possible.
Pawlenty, formerly the governor of Minnesota, made his remarks at an event announcing a new effort led by his organization and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to promote effective financial education and increase financial literacy.
