The first Medical School opened in the American Colonies the decade before the Revolutionary War, but American medical schools didn't become standardized until the early Twentieth Century when the scathing Flexner Report exposed drastic inconsistencies among the then existing 155 medicals in the United States and Canada.
This isn't surprising. It took a long time for the profession to evolve from barbers acting as surgeons and the regular application of leeches to remove "poisoned" blood. Today, it takes nearly a decade of schooling and no less than three separate certifications to lay claim to the title "Doctor." Without this evidentiary material, falsely claiming to be a doctor can lead to arrest. Even if you did stay at a Holiday Inn Express the night before.
Imagine, then, the outrage we would have today if, following the Flexner Report, some government bureaucrat decided, when writing the new standards that would define "Doctor," that author decided to draft a proposal that would be "Business Model Neutral." She wouldn't want to upset all those moonlighting barbers who wanted to be surgeons. And, Lo! The thought of putting the poor leech salesmen out of business for want of mere science. Why stop at leeches, though, why not include purveyors of snake oil as well.
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If you think this all a fantasy, then you haven't read SEC Chair Mary Shapiro's latest offer to redraft the fiduciary standard in a "business model neutral" manner. There's a reason why she tops Santa's 2011 401k Naughty List (for the complete Naughty and Nice List, see "Santa's 2011 401k Nice and Naughty List," FiduciaryNews.com, December 13, 2011). In fact, this latest statement caps an entire year of fiduciary naughtiness on the part of the SEC. From producing a partisan rift in what should have been a fairly innocuous report to misplaying the sentiment of Congress, she has at least been consistent in her rhetorical incompetence.
And now she's making intimations of an impending "business model neutral" proposal. This is the "fiduciary lite" we've all feared. It's the "all fiduciaries are equal except some fiduciaries are more regulated than other fiduciaries." It's a total disregard of nearly eight centuries of fiduciary tradition and trust law. It needs to be rethought and rejected.
Sure the lobbyists will complain.
Just like the barbers and the leech salesmen complained when we finally decided to put a person's physical health ahead of any particular business model.
Why can't regulators possess the same fortitude for a person's fiscal health?
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Christopher Carosa
Chris Carosa has been writing a weekly article and monthly column for BenefitsPRO online and BenefitsPRO Magazine since 2011 and is a nationally recognized award-winning writer, researcher and speaker. He’s written seven books, including From Cradle to Retire: The Child IRA; Hey! What’s My Number? – How to Increase the Odds You Will Retire in Comfort; A Pizza The Action: Everything I Ever Learned About Business I Learned By Working in a Pizza Stand at the Erie County Fair; and the widely acclaimed 401(k) Fiduciary Solutions. Carosa is also Chief Contributing Editor of the authoritative trade journal FiduciaryNews.com and publisher of the Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel, a weekly community newspaper he founded in 1989. Currently serving as President of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and with more than 1,000 articles published in various publications, he appears regularly in the national media. A “parallel” entrepreneur, he actively runs a handful of businesses, including a small boutique investment adviser, providing hands-on experience for his writing. A trained astrophysicist, he also holds an MBA and has been designated a Certified Trust and Financial Advisor. Share your thoughts and story ideas with him through Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/christophercarosa/)and Twitter (https://twitter.com/ChrisCarosa).
