The House and Senate versions of the bill to restructure the financial services industry contain a number of provisions requested by the states at the past two fall conferences of North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA), namely: (1) providing states with regulatory authority over a larger percentage of investment advisers; (2) striking mandatory arbitration clauses from contracts, thereby allowing defrauded investors to adjudicate their claims in court for a better judgment; (3) removing Rule 506 offerings from the class of “federal covered securities” under the NSMIA Act of 1996, thus permitting the states to once again regulate the merits of these offerings; (4) having a harmonized fiduciary duty standard for broker-dealers and investment advisers; (5) establishing a Consumer Financial Protection Agency that would preserve the current balance of power between state and federal law; and (6) adopting provisions to protect senior investors.
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