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On February 16, 2023, OCC settled with both the SEC and CFTC without admitting or denying the findings. That important fact made its way into the CFTC's 2023 Press Release but not the SEC's 2023 Press Release -- and keep in mind that this very disclaimer is tantamount to boiler-plate for virtually all SEC Press Releases. That very same admonition is in a 2019 SEC Release addressing similar allegations against OCC. Was the SEC's omission inadvertent or part of the federal regulator's marketing effort to give the appearance of regulation when the substance is so lacking? Frankly, it is troubling and warrants an investigation.
Maybe this year, finally, someone launches a trade group for the industry's hundreds of thousands of financial professionals. Yeah, I know, wishful thinking. But there are rumblings. I hear them. I feel them. The industry's grunts are getting fed up. In 2023, if pressed, many financial professionals would admit that they now realize that they can deliver better customer service if they weren't shackled to a large industry employer by anti-consumer laws and rules enforced by co-opted industry regulators.