(Bloomberg) — An Obama administration official's call for tough rules on brokers is "propaganda" that ignores stiff oversight of the industry by market regulators, a Securities and Exchange Commission member said Friday.

SEC Commissioner Daniel Gallagher blasted a recent memo by White House advisers that said abusive trading practices cost workers billions of dollars in retirement savings. The document favors a Labor Department plan to require brokers to act in the customer's best interest, even when that limits commissions or fees.

The remarks by Gallagher, a Republican, underscore how politically divisive the expected Labor Department proposal on retirement accounts will be. Wall Street trade groups have said they plan to lobby furiously against it because it could cut off their ability to serve smaller accounts.

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