NU Online News Service, Nov. 1, 10:16 a.m. — Washington
Insurance companies and agents are praising the Securities and Exchange Commission for issuing a final rule on broker/dealer record keeping requirements that accommodates limited service broker/dealers affiliated with life insurance companies.
Carl Wilkerson, chief counsel for securities with the American Council of Life Insurers, Washington, says the SEC deserves praise for recognizing that not all broker/dealers are full services firms and for not adopting a "one-size-fits-all" approach.
Wilkerson notes that one ACLI member, which he did not name, estimates that had the SEC adopted a less flexible approach to it record keeping rule, it would have cost that company at least $1.5 million annually is extra costs.
David Winston, vice president of government affairs for the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors, Falls Church, Va., adds that the SEC correctly recognizes the differences between brokerage houses and insurance broker/dealers.
Winston especially praises ACLI for its work on this issue.
"ACLI deserves all credit for a very positive outcome in the SEC's final rules," Winston says.
Under the SEC rules, broker/dealer offices need not maintain on their premises records needed to assist securities regulators that conduct sales practice examinations.
