Legal

Republicans seem to be trying to starve the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission of the resources it needs to police the sale of investment products, Rep. Gary Peters said today at the fiduciary standard hearing.

EBSA, an arm of the U.S. Labor Department, has described the interim policy in Technical Release 2011-03, which creates a safe harbor for employers that want to use e-mail or other electronic media to meet the new disclosure requirements.

Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee teamed with insurance agent groups Tuesday to attack U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) efforts to apply a uniform fiduciary standard to investment product sales.

Rhode Island lawmakers waded into state government's most dizzying fiscal problem Monday ahead of a special legislative session dedicated to addressing the rising costs of public pensions.

The American Benefits Council spent $243,809 in the second quarter to lobby the federal government on retirement, pension, financial reform, and budget issues related to health and retirement entitlement programs, according to a recent disclosure report.

Some Social Security advocates fear that President Barack Obama's desire to cut taxes supporting the program will undermine its vaunted stature as a self-financing pension system that provides checks to retirees based on contributions they made while working.