Retirement Plans Not Targets of Proposed Panel, Frank Says

Concerns that a new consumer watchdog agency proposed by the Obama administration could play a role in overseeing retirement plan products are unfounded, Rep. Barney Frank, D-Massachusetts, said Wednesday, July 22, at a press conference on Capitol Hill.

Frank, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said legislation pending before his committee to create the Consumer Financial Protection Agency would not affect products—such as mutual funds—already regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“This [the CFPA legislation] does not affect Securities and Exchange Commission jurisdiction,” Frank said.

He also said the CFPA would not play a role in regulating 401(k) plans or annuities.

In July 17 testimony before Frank’s committee, Paul Schott Stevens, president and CEO of the mutual fund industry’s Investment Company Institute, asked that lawmakers ensure the new agency have no regulatory authority over mutual funds or retirement plans. 

Filed by Doug Halonen of Pensions & Investments, a sister publication of Workforce Management. To comment, e-mail editors@workforce.com.