The U.S. Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) on Tuesday voiced its opposition to certain measures contained in U.S. President Obama’s fiscal year 2017 budget proposal, including a possible bank tax and the imposition of a fiduciary duty on retirement advice.
“The imposition of a special, sector-only tax on the vast array of financial institutions captured by the president’s proposal under the guise of further limiting excessive risk completely ignores the changes this administration, Congress, regulators and industry have implemented,” says Kenneth Bentsen, Jr., SIFMA president and CEO, in a statement.
Similarly, SIFMA continues to resist plans for a fiduciary duty on retirement advice, which is being proposed by the U.S. Department of Labor. “We remain opposed to the Department of Labor’s conflict of interest rule that will only harm investors by limiting choice and access to advice while raising the cost of saving for retirement,” Bentsen, Jr. says.
However, he was more positive of proposals aimed at increasing access to retirement plans and increasing the portability of retirement savings and benefits. “We support the President’s goal of increasing retirement savings through greater access to workplace accounts and creating more portable options,” the SIFMA CEO says, adding that the proposed federal programs “bring us closer to that goal.”