St. John's University Law Faculty Blog

On March 4, Professors Christine Lazaro and Ben Edwards co-authored a post for the CLS Blue Sky Blog, Columbia Law School’s Blog on Corporations and the Capital Markets, entitled “The Fragmented Regulation of Investment Advice: A Call for Harmonization.” The post is based on their article of the same title, which is forthcoming in the Michigan Business & Entrepreneurial Law Review. Here’s the start of the post:

Discussions about regulating investment advice have largely focused on whether to harmonize the laws governing two categories of individuals within the securities world—registered investment advisers and stockbrokers.  The discussion has overlooked insurance brokers who often times also provide investment advice. Lazaro and Edwards broaden the focus by arguing that harmonizing the regulation of investment advice necessarily requires reforms reaching beyond securities regulation and into insurance regulation as well.  They argue that consistent standards should govern the investment advice provided to retail investors regardless of who is giving the advice.