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Last summer, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval signed Senate Bill 383, holding financial advisors in the state to a fiduciary standard.
But the law only authorizes Nevada’s secretary of state “to adopt regulations concerning such fiduciary duty; providing penalties; and providing other matters” related to it. The regulations are still pending.
Connecticut’s law, signed on July 5, 2017, doesn’t go as far as mandating a fiduciary standard for advisors. Rather, the Connecticut Act requires financial planners to disclose the fact that they’re not held to a fiduciary standard if a client requests it. Financial planners who are fiduciaries are also obligated to disclose that to clients upon request.
In December 2017, the New York Department of Financial Services announced a state proposal that would require sellers of life insurance and annuities to act in the best interest of clients.
The rule was finalized in July of this year.
“The regulation will fill in regulatory gaps to protect New York consumers from the elimination of the Federal Department of Labor’s Conflict of Interest Rule, which the Trump Administration failed to protect on appeal after a ruling from the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals,” the department said, in a statement.
Two bills were introduced in the Maryland legislature earlier this year that would have imposed a fiduciary duty on broker/dealers and investment advisors. But the fiduciary language was taken out of both versions of the bills.
Just this month, New Jersey issued a notice of pre-proposal on a rule imposing a fiduciary standard for investment professionals.
“In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, the federal government implemented a series of reforms, including a nationwide ‘fiduciary rule,’ designed to protect investors and consumers from the next crash,” said Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal, in a statement. “With the Trump Administration gutting those protections left and right, it falls to states like New Jersey to fill the void.”
The state is taking public comments through Dec. 14, 2018.
In February, a bill was introduced into the state assembly titled the “Investment Advisor Disclosure Act.” But it’s simply a placeholder bill; no language has been drafted yet.
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