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SEC Should Adopt a Fiduciary Rule, Former Chairs Say

Not one, not two, but three former chairs of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) want the agency they ran to join the effort to set a fiduciary rule. They made their remarks at a TD Ameritrade summit in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 6.

Harvey Pitt, Christopher Cox and Mary Schapiro all expressed support for the SEC doing so, according to a Pensions & Investments report, adding that they thought putting the interest of clients first should be the guiding principle behind the effort.

But they also indicated that in their experience, that is easier said than done. Cox noted that the SEC tried to establish such a rule in 2008 but found that it was harder to do than they had expected, noting that “enormous interests” are at stake in the matter. Schapiro made a similar observation, noting that nothing more than a study resulted from hundreds of meetings, thousands of comment letters and the work of a task force.