On March 1, 2013, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued a request for information to aid the agency in its consideration of revisions to the respective standards of care imposed on investment advisers and broker-dealers when they provide personalized investment advice.  In particular, the SEC staff seeks quantitative data and economic analysis pertaining to existing and potential standards of care.

This request is the SEC’s next step in its consideration of whether to impose a uniform fiduciary standard for all providers of personalized investment advice.  It follows the January 2011 SEC staff publication, Study on Investment Advisers and Broker-Dealers As Required by Section 913 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protec¬tion Act.  While that study was mandated by section 913 of the Dodd-Frank Act, that same section authorized, but did not require, the SEC to engage in rulemaking relating to this issue.  Although the staff’s study recommended that the Commission engage in rulemaking, the Commission felt that insufficient data had been produced to facilitate a fully informed decision on the propriety of any rulemaking.  This request aims to fill that gap.