While the SECs involvement provides the brokerage industry another front for battling the White House plan, it also gives the Labor Department cover to proceed on its own.
The agency, she says, should implement a uniform fiduciary duty for broker-dealers and investment advisers where the standard is to act in the best interest of the investor.
The White House threw its weight behind a DOL proposal to make it harder for brokers to push higher-fee mutual funds or other expensive products on people saving for life after work.