Monday, June 29, 2009
We need financial cops - and speed limits
Mary Schapiro, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, is correct: Fiduciary standards for all who give investment advice won't be sufficient to deter fraud.
High standards are never enough. Consider that every state and municipality has traffic laws and speed limits that are posted and widely known. Yet the same jurisdictions also have police forces to enforce the laws and a jail to house those who violate them.
In most fields of endeavor, there are a few people who violate or try to game the rules and regulations for their own advantage. The investment advisory field is no exception, as the Madoff scandal and other recent cases of fraud have reminded us.
In fact, as reported in InvestmentNews last week, about a third of the 26 actions that the SEC has brought against Ponzi-type schemes since January involved investment advisory firms subject to fiduciary standards.
Simply declaring that all who provide investment advice must adhere to a fiduciary standard and act in the best interests of the client won't make them do so...
Investment News: We need financial cops - and speed limits
High standards are never enough. Consider that every state and municipality has traffic laws and speed limits that are posted and widely known. Yet the same jurisdictions also have police forces to enforce the laws and a jail to house those who violate them.
In most fields of endeavor, there are a few people who violate or try to game the rules and regulations for their own advantage. The investment advisory field is no exception, as the Madoff scandal and other recent cases of fraud have reminded us.
In fact, as reported in InvestmentNews last week, about a third of the 26 actions that the SEC has brought against Ponzi-type schemes since January involved investment advisory firms subject to fiduciary standards.
Simply declaring that all who provide investment advice must adhere to a fiduciary standard and act in the best interests of the client won't make them do so...
Investment News: We need financial cops - and speed limits
Permalink posted by markw @ 5:31 AM 
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