William Michael Cunningham Files Amicus Brief in Fiduciary Rule Case (16-cv-1035)

WASHINGTON - July 15, 2016 - PRLog -- WIlliam Michael Cunningham today filed a "Friend of the Court" brief in National Association of Fixed Annuities (NAFA) vs. the Department of Labor. The case, 16-cv-1035 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, challenges the ability of the Department of Labor to "raise investment advice standards" as they apply to retirement accounts.

The plaintiff, NAFA, "is a trade association representing insurance companies, independent marketing organizations and individual insurance agents."

As Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez stated in response to a similar lawsuit, "industry groups and lobbyists are suing for the right to put their own financial self-interests ahead of the best interests of their customers,"

In his Friend of the Court brief, Mr Cunningham shows that damage claims made by NAFA are grossly overstated and notes that, in this sense, NAFA exhibits the same ruinous ethical standards that led to the financial crisis of 2008.

Specifically, Mr. Cunningham shows the statement made by NAFA that the Department of Labor regulation "threatens the very existence of" its members businesses is preposterous. According to the Secure Retirement Institute's first-quarter 2016 U.S. retail annuity sales survey "sales of fixed annuities increased 4.8 percent to $32.3 billion during the first quarter of 2016. All retail fixed annuity products experienced double-digit growth compared with the prior year.  Fixed annuities lifted total annuity sales to $58.9 billion during the quarter, a 9 percent increase from (2015). This is the third consecutive quarter of positive growth in annuity sales."

Testimony on the Fiduciary Rule at the Department of Labor

https://youtu.be/kOGS-DdLYe0



Concluding Notes

Mr. Cunningham concludes by noting that "it is not Department of Labor regulations that threaten NAFA's $128 billion (annual) market. The key risk is the lack of industry ethics that may give rise to broad, widespread market failure."