Insurance lobbyists block federal crackdown on costly retirement advice

Sleazeballs

August 12, 2024

To protect older Americans' life savings, President Joe Biden pledged in October to crack down on financial advisers who recommend investments just because they pay higher commissions. Then the insurance industry got to work.

Lobbying groups representing New York Life, Lincoln Financial Group, Prudential Financial and other companies first pushed back against the newly proposed regulations before suing to topple them entirely. Now the government's latest attempt to protect retirees is in political and legal limbo, facing the possibility that it may never take effect.

It is the latest example of a pervasive pattern: As the Biden administration tries to impose new restrictions on powerful industries, those businesses successfully turn to Congress and the courts for a reprieve. This time, the resulting clash centers on a basic question: Should federal law require more financial professionals to put retirees' needs above all else - including their own paychecks - when they offer advice about how to invest?
https://www.redlakenationnews.com/story/2024/08/12/news/insurance-lobbyists-block-federal-crackdown-on-costly-retirement-advice/124554.html