TD Ameritrade Institutional Supports Bills That Benefit Individual Investors, Small Businesses and Independent RIAs

As SEC Readies for Vote on Regulation BI, RIA Advocate Skip Schweiss
Heads to Capitol Hill to Meet Policymakers

JERSEY CITY, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–$AMTD #Advocating4you–Investing for retirement has never been more critical, but some current
policies create roadblocks for investors, small businesses, and the
independent registered investment advisors (RIAs) who guide them. As
Congress considers legislation to help address the nation’s retirement
savings crisis, TD
Ameritrade Institutional¹ reiterates its support for
proposals that help investors plan and save for their long-term
financial goals.

Skip Schweiss, Managing Director of Advisor Advocacy and Industry
Affairs for TD Ameritrade Institutional, is meeting with members of
Congress and their staffs in Washington this week and next to raise
awareness on a range of issues impacting investors and independent RIAs.
On June 5 and 6, Schweiss will join other Financial
Planning Association members and industry leaders on Capitol Hill.
On June 13, he’ll take to the Hill again as a participant in the Investment
Adviser Association’s Advocacy Day. TD Ameritrade Institutional is a
sponsor of both of these events.

Tax reform, SEC regulation and advisor oversight, investor protections,
small business access to retirement plans, restoration of the investor
deduction for advisory fees, extension of the pass-through deduction for
RIA firms, and cybersecurity are just a few of the items that will be
discussed.

“TD Ameritrade Institutional for 15 years has proudly stood and fought
at the side of RIAs. We come to Washington to help make their voices
heard on policies and rules that can impact their clients and their
firms,” said Schweiss. “Investing for their retirement, for one, is
critical for American families and for our country as a whole. We should
make it easier, not more difficult, for investors to pursue their
financial goals.”

The U.S.
Government Accountability Office recently reported that roughly half
(48%) of households headed by someone 55 years of age or older have no
retirement savings.² And earlier this year, the National
Institute on Retirement Security found that the typical retirement
account balance is $40,000.³

Schweiss goes to Washington just as Congress takes up two bills related
to retirement savings: the Retirement Enhancement and Savings Act of
2019 (RESA), in the Senate, and the Setting Every Community Up for
Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act of 2019, which passed in the House
of Representatives on May 23. Both bills would, among other things,
raise the required minimum distribution age from 70½ to 72, enable small
businesses to work together to form multi-employer 401(k) plans and make
part-time workers eligible for retirement benefits.

Reg BI Up for SEC Vote on June 5

RIAs are meeting lawmakers at a historic moment.

On June 5, the SEC Commissioners are set to vote on one of the most
significant proposed regulatory changes in decades: Regulation Best
Interest (Reg BI) ⁴, proposed in April 2018, which would
establish new standards for brokers making investment recommendations as
part of a package of new rules to be applied to brokers and investment
advisors.

Also on June 5, the SEC Commissioners will vote on whether to publish an
interpretation of the “solely Incidental” language found in the
Investment Advisers Act of 1940. This interpretation was not part of the
April 2018 proposals.

Advisors have mixed views of the proposed regulation. A recent survey of
independent RIAs⁵ conducted for TD Ameritrade Institutional
found that though half (51%) say they do not have strong opinions on the
SEC’s Reg BI as proposed, 35 percent say they are in favor of it, while
14 percent are opposed. But if Reg BI as proposed were enacted, roughly
half (48%) of RIAs expect business will continue as usual.

RIAs accept some aspects of the SEC’s proposed Reg BI but are lukewarm
on others. More than seven in 10 agree with introducing licensing and
continuing education requirements for RIAs, and 85 percent believe RIA
clients should receive periodic statements showing fees. On the other
hand, 45 percent disagree with imposing minimum capital requirements on
RIA firms, and 69 percent oppose RIA fidelity bonding requirements.

“Regulations can impact the ability of thousands of independent advisors
to compete in the marketplace, yet most RIA firms are small businesses
that need to focus on serving their clients,” said Schweiss. “We come to
Washington to amplify their voices and look out for their interests. We
also continue to tell policymakers that investors are better served by
rules that offer strong protections in the financial markets and
increase access to independent investment advice.”

The survey conducted for TD Ameritrade Institutional also found that
independent RIAs consider regulatory issues to be their top management
challenge. Advisors also say that, second only to technology, their
biggest spending increases year after year are on managing regulatory
and legal issues.

To learn more about TD Ameritrade Institutional’s RIA advocacy efforts,
please visit https://www.tdainstitutional.com/why-ria/advocacy.html

About TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation

TD Ameritrade provides investing
services and education to
more than 11 million client accounts totaling approximately $1.3
trillion in assets, and custodial
services to more than 7,000 registered investment advisors. We are a
leader in U.S. retail trading, executing an average of approximately
850,000 trades per day for our clients, more than a quarter of which
come from mobile devices. We have a proud history
of innovation, dating back to our start in 1975, and today our team
of 10,000-strong is committed to carrying it forward. Together, we are
leveraging the latest in cutting edge technologies and one-on-one client
care to transform lives, and investing, for the better. Learn more by
visiting TD Ameritrade’s newsroom at www.amtd.com,
or read our stories at Fresh
Accounts.

About TD Ameritrade Institutional

TD
Ameritrade Institutional empowers more than 7,000 independent
registered investment advisors to transform the lives of their clients.
It provides powerful technology and resources that help simplify running
a business and let advisors spend more time doing what matters most —
serving their clients. Through meaningful innovation, steadfast advocacy
and unwavering service, TD Ameritrade Institutional supports RIAs as
they build businesses that positively impact their clients and
communities. TD Ameritrade Institutional is a division of TD Ameritrade,
Inc., member FINRA/SIPC, a brokerage subsidiary of TD Ameritrade Holding
Corp.

Brokerage services provided by TD Ameritrade, Inc., member FINRA (www.FINRA.org)
/ SIPC (www.SIPC.org).

¹ TD Ameritrade Institutional is a division of TD Ameritrade,
Inc., a brokerage subsidiary of TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation
²
Retirement
Security: Most Households Approaching Retirement Have Low Savings,
U.S. Government Accountability Office, March 26, 2019
³ Retirement
Insecurity 2019, National Institute on Retirement Security, March
2019
⁴ SEC
Open Meeting Agenda, Wednesday, June 5, 2019, Securities and
Exchange Commission
⁵ 2019
RIA Sentiment Survey, TD Ameritrade Institutional, January 2019

Source: TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation

Contacts

Media Contact:
Joseph A.
Giannone
Communications + Public Affairs
T: 201-369-8705
joseph.giannone@tdameritrade.com