On April 18, the SEC approved the publication of three releases (the “Releases”) proposing new regulatory requirements that are intended to expand and clarify the duties that broker-dealers and investment advisers owe to their clients under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”) and the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (the “Advisers Act”), respectively. The Releases were adopted by a 4-1 vote (Commissioner Stein voting no), with even the Commissioners who voted to publish the Releases expressing concerns about their substance, albeit for opposing reasons.

The first section of this memorandum provides an overview of the Releases, their significance and background to their issuance. The next three sections of the memorandum describe each of the Releases in turn. The final section of this memorandum discusses the differing viewpoints of the Commissioners and the underlying policy debates informing those viewpoints.