The bill that industry trade groups feared could stop the Securities and Exchange Commission and Department of Labor's fiduciary rules in their tracks is coming up for a Tuesday vote on the House floor — and at least one industry official expects it to pass.
The Retail Investor Protection Act, H.R. 2374, introduced by Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Mo., passed the House Financial Services Committee by a 44-13 vote in June and would require that the DOL wait to repropose its fiduciary rule until 60 days after the SEC issues its fiduciary proposal under Section 913 of Dodd-Frank.
Wagner's legislation may not die in the Senate, said the official, who asked for anonymity, "especially if it gets strong bi-partisan support in the House."
As Wagner said in her Sunday video message, her bill would "prohibit the DOL from issuing any new rules unless the SEC acts first," and require the SEC "to perform some common-sense due diligence to determine whether any new rules are necessary."
Said Wagner: "When federal agencies overreach, as they have in this case, it's the responsibility of Congress to intervene and stand up for hardworking American families who ultimately pay the price for misguided regulations."
Wagner said that the SEC and DOL fiduciary rules would "likely increase the cost of doing business for Main Street financial professionals and cut off access to advice to low- and moderate-income families."
The Financial Planning Coalition sent a letter Monday to all members of Congress stating that H.R. 2374 "is an investor protection bill in name only, [and] would prevent [the SEC and DOL] from engaging in rulemaking crucial to investor protection and would leave American investors more vulnerable to potential abuses."