Statement by the President

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 14, 2015

Statement by the President

Today, the Department of Labor took new action to protect the retirement savings of hardworking Americans, building on my Administration's strong record of protecting consumers.  Current loopholes allow Wall Street brokers and other financial advisers to benefit from backdoor payments and hidden fees if they talk responsible Americans into buying bad retirement investments—with high costs and low returns—instead of recommending quality investments. As I called for in February, today's proposal updates the rules to crack down on these conflicts of interest in retirement advice that are costing working and middle class families billions of dollars every year. A central goal of middle class economics is helping responsible American families retire with security and dignity after a lifetime of hard work, and today’s action by the Department of Labor is an important step toward that goal.

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