LRIAs have a chance to change the rules governing their firms—if they’re willing to make their voices heard.
The only thing certain in the wealth management industry, it seems, is death, taxes, and changing regulations.
In an already rapidly evolving compliance landscape, advisors should expect more regulatory changes ahead. But unlike previous periods of rapid-fire rulemaking, the current Presidential administration’s receptiveness to working with the wealth management industry provides an opening for advisors to weigh in, according to Dan Gallagher, Chief Legal, Compliance and Corporate Affairs Officer of Robinhood Markets, and Lucas Moskowitz, Senior Vice President and the General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Robinhood Markets. This creates an unprecedented opportunity for advisors to advocate for what rules their businesses really need.
The duo’s message of advisor self-advocacy was a core theme of their panel at the SYNERGY25 conference earlier this year. In a conversation with Robert Schmidt, Founder of Capitol Accounts, Dan and Lucas covered topics ranging from cryptocurrency and the SEC to upheaval at FINRA.
“Deregulation will be real,” said Dan, who served as Commissioner with the SEC from 2011 to 2015. “It’s going to be a shock for a lot of people when you see rules falling off the rulebooks; when you have a more cooperative exam team show up to your firm.”
Naturally, the push to implement policy changes begins in the White House, but it further aligns with the outlook of SEC Chairman Paul Atkins. Dan describes Atkins as a “staunch libertarian” who “abhors regulation by enforcement.”
The change from 2024 to 2025 is “stark,” he added.
That means many of the rules from the previous administration, including policies implemented by former SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, could be falling off the books.
To take advantage of this opportunity for self-advocacy, advisors need to speak up for themselves, he said.
“Take part. Be heard. Don’t rely on one trade group,” Dan said.
Letters from advisors to rulemakers are “pure gold” when it comes to self-advocacy, he added, citing how appreciative he was of meeting with, or hearing from, financial advisors rather than trade groups during his service with the SEC.
For its part, Robinhood will also be advocating for investors and TradePMR advisors, Dan said. But there’s no replacement for hearing from those who are affected firsthand by rules and regulations.
Changing the rules isn’t the hard part, it’s getting people to go along with the changes, Lucas observed as the session came to a close.
Too often advisors get removed from the process and prescribed with the results after the fact. Today, advisors have the chance to speak up and be heard.
If you want to learn more about Robinhood's current policy stances, visit policy.robinhood.com.
About TradePMR
For more than two decades, TradePMR has worked with growth-minded independent registered investment advisors (RIAs), providing innovative technology tools and support designed to transform their businesses. The brokerage and custodian services provider (Member FINRA/SIPC), based in Clearwater, Fla., works to streamline investment advisors' operations through comprehensive custodial, operational, and trading support. For more information, visit www.TradePMR.com.
TradePMR is a subsidiary of Robinhood Markets, Inc.
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