BDA is working swiftly to follow-up with SEC Chairman Clayton and his fellow commissioners regarding our January 17 SEC fly-in which focused on retail confirmation markup disclosures. BDA became aware in late 2017 that the chairman and commissioners were frustrated with industry calls for a flat delay of the rule, and quickly acted to set up BDA member meetings to best express our concerns to the chair and commissioners in-person.
During our meeting, Mr. Clayton candidly expressed to us that he feels if a flat delay is given, vendors will not use that time to work on solutions. He also expressed concern that one delay might lead to several more requests for delay down the road. Chairman Clayton requested that BDA provide the SEC with a business plan/timeline approach, as he has not been satisfied with previous approaches that simply requested a delay in implementation of the rule.
Per our discussion with Mr. Clayton, as well as Commissioner Stein, and senior staff to Commissioner Piwowar, BDA’s working group left these meetings feeling that the best approach moving forward is a request for a transition period without formal extension of the effective date – but with a delay of enforcement provided industry can show they are actively working on solutions.
BDA’s working group is drafting a letter we hope to send early next week. The letter will lay out specific, concrete impacts that the approaching retail confirmation rule is having on BDA member firms; and lay out BDA suggestions on a business plan approach/timeline of enforcement — per the Chairman’s request. The letter will take into account vendor timelines, system integration, testing and other technical aspects. BDA’s suggestion will be enforcement by the end of 2018 – about 7 months after the rule’s effective date of May 14, 2018. The letter will also make it very clear that it would be incredibly disruptive to the retail market and consumers if confirms were to go out with inaccurate information.
