"We intend to share whatever relevant information we have available, and to help the department better understand our industry and the critical role it plays in helping Americans plan for the future," FSI General Counsel and Director of Government Affairs David Bellaire said in a statement. "We also look forward to the department sharing their evidence of problems prompting this pending rule, hopefully dispelling the conventional wisdom that it's a solution in search of a problem."
Bellaire said the institute is focused on protecting middle-income Americans' access to affordable financial advice. Members of the institute met with the department last week as part of the ongoing discussion at federal levels about if and how a fiduciary standard should be applied more broadly within the financial services industry.
