January 31, 2005
Dear SEC,
Please withdrew this rule that exempts brokers as fiduciaries. By not forcing broker dealers to act as fiduciaries under the Advisors Act of 1940 you are essentially enabling them to abuse the public.
In the broker dealer world, it is profits first, people second. By having them conceal many of their conflicts of interest compensation, shareholders, investment bank clients, soft dollars, directed brokerage and hide behind suitability rather than fiduciary, you allow the public to be flogged. LOOK at the trading scandals in the last few years. Are these registered investment advisor fiduciaries paying fines or broker dealers?
The game is, hire unqualified people who can sell, churn the client assets as much as possible, and then hide behind suitability in NASD arbitration.
Do something bold. Turn investment advice into a profession like medicine or law rather than a sales job. Time to put a stop to this.
Respectfully Yours,