Cadwalader attorneys authored a memorandum on the implications of newly adopted Regulation Best Interest ("Reg. BI"), which is intended to expand and clarify the duties that broker-dealers owe to retail investors. Reg. BI was adopted as part of a package of actions concerning the obligations of broker-dealers and advisers to their clients that was approved by the SEC on a 3-1 vote, with Commissioner Robert J. Jackson Jr. dissenting, asserting that the actions were insufficiently protective. In addition to providing a summary of Reg. BI, and a preliminary policy discussion, the memorandum provides a first cut of the compliance and operational procedures that firms may wish to consider implementing in order to comply with the new requirements.
The memorandum on Reg. BI was authored by Steven Lofchie, Maurine Bartlett, Nihal Patel and Conor Almquist.