Financial Planning Association v. Securities and Exchange Commission
United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
482 F.3d 481 (2007)
The Investment Advisers Act (IAA) generally requires investment advisers to register, but exempts brokers who don't receive special compensation for investment advice or whose advice is merely incidental to their brokerage work. The SEC (defendant) proposed a new rule that would extend this exemption to brokers who do receive special compensation for advice, so long as they disclosed they weren't registered advisers. The Financial Planning Association (FPA) (plaintiff), representing registered advisers, challenged the proposed rule.
Whether Congress intended to grant the SEC authority to expand the categories of activity permitted to brokers already exempted from registration under the Investment Advisers Act.