On David Massey, Securities Director for the state of North Carolina

"The president of the North American Securities Administrators Association
...which is comprised of securities regulators from all 50 states...
David Massey, the deputy securities administrator for the state of North Carolina,
began a one-year term as president
of the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) in September.

What are your priorities for NASAA in 2011?

Number one on our priority list is that financial professionals
who provide investment advice be subject to fiduciary duty.



Investment advisors are already subject to the fiduciary duty,
and the brokerage industry has been incorporating an advisory role.

The dividing lines that formerly separated the public's concept
of a stockbroker and investment advisor have gotten pretty fuzzy.

NASAA would like to see the Securities and Exchange Commission
adopt a fiduciary duty requirement for brokers who provide investment advice
so the broker would be required to act in the client's best interest
and disclose any conflict of interest.

What kind of objections are you getting from the brokerage industry?

I think they perceive that the fiduciary duty is going to require a lot more disclosure.

But if you're making recommendations to clients
about what kind of product they ought to buy and which is best for them,
then you ought to be legally required to act in their best interest,
because that's what the clients think the broker is supposed to be doing anyway."

Jaime Levy Pessin
February 1, 2011