With the election settled, everyone is asking the obvious question—now what?
TD Ameritrade Institutional attempted to answer on Wednesday, at least in the legislative and regulatory realm as it applies to advisors, by hosting a web seminar titled "What now? Post-election, what can we expect from Washington as it pertains to investors and financial advisors?"
Moderated by Skip Schweiss, president of TD Ameritrade Trust Co. and managing director of the custodian's advisor advocacy efforts, the panel included Joel Oswald and Christopher Hatcher, principals with Williams and Jensen, a government affairs law firm based in Washington, as well as Brian Graff, executive director of the American Society of Pension Professional and Actuaries. The webcast reviewed the election results in the context of the impact to RIAs and their clients, specifically focusing on:
– Deficits, taxes, spending
– Advisor regulation
– Retirement plan regulation
"Now that the election is over, we'll see changes in leadership on the House Financial Services Committee with the likely focus being on oversight of the implementation and regulation of the Dodd-Frank Financial Reform Act," Oswald said. "They'll also look to reform government-sponsored enterprises."
The Senate Banking Committee will also see changes, with new ranking members and speculation that Elizabeth Warren, who defeated Scott Brown for Massachusetts' junior Senate seat, will join.
As to the Securities Exchange Commission and what the future holds for Chairman Mary Schapiro, Oswald said, "There's been speculation that Schapiro will resign, but she's downplayed that somewhat, saying she doesn't have a departure date. If she does stay, her term will end in 2014, which is a very long time to run the SEC. Only four others have lasted that long."
Now that President Obama has won, Oswald also said the Department of Labor will re-propose and move forward with a fiduciary rule under ERISA.
Graff (right) then took over to discuss what's expected with tax reform, as well as incentives for retirement saving and investing.
