ICI chief: Don’t subject funds, plans to conflicting rules

By Doug Halonen
July 17, 2009, 12:18 PM ET

Pension & Investments

A new consumer watchdog agency proposed by the Obama administration should not have regulatory authority over mutual funds or retirement plans, because they already are regulated by the federal government, Paul Schott Stevens, president and CEO of the Investment Company Institute, testified today before the House Financial Services Committee.

Mr. Stevens said in prepared remarks before the panel that mutual funds and retirement plans are already regulated by the SEC and the Department of Labor.

“A separate regulatory regime for funds under the (proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency) could well mean that funds — and their boards, advisers and distributors — would find themselves subject to conflicting regulatory philosophies and potential regulatory overlap,” Mr. Stevens said in the text of his testimony.

“Vesting jurisdiction in the CFPA over retirement and education savings vehicles would be ill-advised and disruptive of long-standing and effective regulatory regimes,” Mr. Stevens added in the text of his testimony.

The CFPA was originally proposed June 17 by the Obama administration as part of the administration’s wide-ranging plan to enhance federal oversight of the nation’s financial system.