The head of The U.S. Chamber of Commerce assailed President Obama’s regulatory proposal for financial advisers on Monday.
Thomas Donohue, the Chamber’s CEO and president, said in a blog post that Obama’s proposal would “threaten the availability… of affordable retirement options.”
“It would create higher costs that would be passed on to small businesses, potentially limiting their ability to offer retirement plans,” Donohue argued.
Obama is backing a proposal at the Department of Labor (DOL) that requires more disclosures for financial advisers. Progressives argue that the regulations are needed to better protect consumers from from financial advisers who sell faulty financial advice so they can make lucrative commissions.
But the industry vehemently is against the regulations, arguing that it’d out-cost lower- and middle-income Americans from receiving the advice.
A tentative DOL hearing is scheduled for some time in August.
“Some advisors may not be able to justify the expense or absorb the risk of changing business models and fee structures for small-scale plans, so they could cease to provide those services,” Donohue warned.