August 10, 2009
Hi
I have just read one of the proposed custody rules. It seems to me that we need to move cautiously. In the wake of all the fraud in the past several years, it may be the tendency of rule making bodies to jump to regulate, instead of giving serious thought to the possibility that more regulations are not the answer, but enforcing those already on the books.
In regard to this specific rule, RIA's are already required communicate their fees to their clients. Most custodians put the fees in a clearly marked area on the statements. So there is no issue with clients not knowing what their fees are if they took the time to look. So what is the point of an audit by a CPA firm. This will just make our fees have to go up to cover the costs, it's this type of regulation that will put more firms that do a good service, out of business, limit the employees we hire or make us charge more to the consummer. It's not needed, we dont have access to their accounts except to charge our fees, we dont have custody, why then is there a need for an audit?
Thank you.
Dave Luck
David C. Luck, CPA PC
Ghent, NY