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Candidate Clinton Throws in with Fiduciary Proposal — and Then Some

For those thinking the impetus behind the Labor Department’s fiduciary proposal might fade with a change in administrations, think again.

Earlier this week, presidential aspirant and likely Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton shared her perspective on the fiduciary proposal in no less a forum than a New York Times editorial. “Right now, Republicans in Congress are working to attach damaging deregulation riders to the must-pass spending bill,” she said. “They’re attempting to defund the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. They want to roll back common-sense efforts to prevent conflicts of interest by financial managers.”

Clinton’s op-ed, which focused on a litany of concerns about Wall Street practices, called on President Obama and congressional Democrats to do “everything they can to stop these efforts.” She then went on to note that, “it’s not enough simply to protect the progress we have made. As president, I would not only veto any legislation that would weaken financial reform, but I would also fight for tough new rules, stronger enforcement and more accountability that go well beyond Dodd-Frank.”

Not that the op-ed represented a departure from Clinton’s previous remarks. She had previously said the Retail Investor Protection Act is “deceptively named” after the bill passed the House of Representatives by a margin of 245 to 186. The bill, which would have delayed the Labor Department’s fiduciary rule until the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had promulgated its own standard, would block “badly needed protections that prevent conflicts of interest” within the financial services industry, said Clinton in a statement after the vote.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont), who is challenging Clinton for the nomination, has strongly supported the Labor Department’s proposal.