(Boston)

Advisors beware, your state is likely ramping up regulatory enforcement all around you. While all the focus has been on states making and/or enforcing their own fiduciary rules in the absence of the federal rule, they have also been upping their presence in other areas. For instance, Alabama is now getting involved in disputes between brokers and firms, making sure client assets do not get frozen. Massachusetts is enforcing the federal fiduciary rule, and Nevada is making and seeking to enforce its own best interest rule as well.

FINSUM: Our view on this is that there is a power and leadership vacuum in the federal regulators that has eroded states’ trust, all of which is leading to a more fractured regulatory landscape.