NAIFA thanks the lawmakers who in a letter to the Department of Labor expressed their concerns regarding the DOL’s effort to expand the definition of “fiduciary” because an expanded definition could have a harmful effect on African-American investors.
As reported in the March 27 Investment News, eight members of the House Financial Services Committee who are also members of the Congressional Black Caucus said in a letter to acting Labor Secretary Seth Harris that they “maintain concerns that if the re-proposal reflects the department's initial fiduciary proposal, it could disparately impact retirement savers and investment representatives in the African-American community.”
The letter was signed by Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., ranking member of the Financial Services Committee, and Democratic Reps. Gregory Meeks (N.Y.), Gwen Moore (Wis.), Emmanuel Cleaver (Mo.), Al Green (Texas), William Lacy Clay (Mo.), Terri Sewell (Ala.) and David Scott (Ga.).
NAIFA has long said that the Department needs to be wary of imposing an overly rigid fiduciary rule with unintended consequences that would raise costs and reduce access to advice for millions of middle class retirement savers.