Pennsylvania + Wall

By: Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr.

Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr., president and CEO of SIFMA, joined BloombergTV's Market Makers to discuss SIFMA's comments on the Department of Labor's proposed retirement regulation. The following are key excerpts from the interview, "Why 'Best Interest' Standard May Not Be the Best for All" and ""Why SIFMA Opposes Labor Dept. 'Best Interest' Rule."

Yesterday, SIFMA submitted comments to the Department of Labor (DOL) in response to its proposed retirement regulation, stressing concerns that the proposed rule will harm investors by limiting access to financial guidance, reducing choice and ultimately raising the cost of saving for retirement. I joined Stephanie Ruhle and Erik Schatzker on BloombergTV to discuss three key points:.... Read more...

By: Kenneth E. Bentsen, Jr.

Much of the discussion around the Department of Labor’s recently proposed retirement regulation focuses on the question of a “best interest standard” for financial advisors providing guidance to IRA holders and employees who participate in 401k plans. But that’s not what the debate is really about.

The financial services industry has long advocated for such a best interest standard when providing personalized investment advice. Congress in the Dodd-Frank Act, with the industry’s support, authorized the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to develop such a standard. And FINRA, the congressional mandated self-regulatory organization that along with the SEC and the states regulates broker-dealers, has increasingly imposed such a standard through its rulemaking, guidance, examinations and arbitration policies.

In fact, the debate is not even about the language the DOL uses to define a best interest standard in its proposal. That in and of itself is something the industry and other regulators agree upon.

Rather, the debate is about the next several hundreds of pages of conditions and prescriptions the DOL proposes in addition to the best interest standard. These provisions both explicitly and implicitly limit the types of investments individuals may choose with their own money..... Read more...

By Christopher B. Killian and Joseph Cox

 This article originally appeared in The Securitisation & Structured Finance Handbook 2015/16.

The restoration of private-sector securitization – non-government guaranteed securities – is a necessary component of the broader reinvigoration of the housing system in the United States. Why has the market for Private-Label Mortgage-Backed Securities (PLS) remained largely stagnant while others have gained momentum since the financial crisis?.... Read more...

By Melanie Mortimer

On June 10, the SIFMA Foundation brought four middle-school and high-school students and their teachers to New York City for a Wall Street Experience.

The students earned their way to New York’s Financial District by winning national titles in the SIFMA Foundation’s fall and spring InvestWrite competitions. InvestWrite is a national essay competition that challenges students to analyze investment scenarios and turn out the best recommendations for long-term portfolio allocations.

Wowing the panel of judges—composed of thousands of teachers and industry professionals—with their advanced insight into the working of the capital markets and long-term investing strategies, the four were chosen from among 20,000 students who participated in InvestWrite this year. .... Read more...