Meyer Wilson Founding Principal David P. Meyer has hit the ground running as the new President of the Public Investors Advocate Bar Association (PIABA). Mr. Meyer began his term as PIABA President in October.
In a special feature article published by Financial Advisor magazine, Mr. Meyer discusses his pro-investor agenda to improve FINRA’s online BrokerCheck database and oppose the SEC’s proposed ‘finder’ rule.
As reported by Financial Advisor, Mr. Meyer plans to push FINRA to allow public investors to access information about the enforcement records of brokerage firms. Currently, investors can only use the independent regulator’s BrokerCheck tool to evaluate individual broker-advisors with whom they may do business.
As Mr. Meyer tells Financial Advisor:
“Right now, investors can only look at data at the broker level, not the firm level.
I want investors to be able to access a firm’s records so they can see a firm’s culture and enforcement cases. Does a firm or its brokers have 10 complaints, enforcements or enforcement or arbitration cases? The more information an investor has, the better they’ll be able to evaluate and make decisions about who to entrust with their life savings.
In addition, Mr. Meyer has voiced his opposition to the SEC’s proposed ‘finder’ rule, which would allow “finders” to solicit broker and advisor clients for private placements without having to register. As Mr. Meyer notes, such an arrangement puts investors at risk as “there is no record-keeping, no inspections or exams, no compliance.”
“Ask any state regulator and they’ll tell you the biggest problem they have is with unregistered agents. It’s shocking the SEC now wants to green-light the activity they routinely have to sue to stop.”
Read Financial Advisor’s full article featuring David P. Meyer here.
