From: Ken Smith |
I have been a financial service professional for over 23 years. During this period I have seen SEC rules become more and more detailed, duplicitous, and awkward. I understand the purpose of your efforts is to protect the public from unethical people who conduct their activities in an unprofessional manner. However, everything you are asking to include in the NEW disclosure is already in the existing required materials. You are never going to create rules and procedures which will keep unethical people from behaving unethically. Meanwhile you have made the whole process more cumbersome and difficult for the vast majority of securities professionals and their clients. If I may be so bold, the other thing that I find terribly offensive is the perpetuation of the ongoing implication that pay in the form of commission is subject to more abuse than receiving salary for work done. How would you like it if every time you shared your professional opinion or knowledge you had to disclose what your hourly or annual salary is? I would contend that there is the same percentage of salaried employees who don’t really earn what they are being paid (THEREFORE TAKING MONEY THEY DO NOT DESERVE) as there is commissioned sales people who are overpaid because they falsely induce a client to buy. Another suggestion I would ask you to consider is that the entire cost, both direct and indirect, of having the SEC and NASD oversee securities activities be calculated per transaction and this amount is also disclosed to the public. Ken Smith MSE, EdS, CLU |