Forum Post: Adopt the Goal: Bring Fiduciary Standard to Wall Street to Counter Greed

Wall Street embodies capitalism taken to excess, which becomes GREED. The counter to greed is imposition of restraints upon conduct. As President James Madison stated, "If all men were angels, governments would not be necessary." The effective counter to Wall Street greed is to change it from a "sell-side" system in which customers - our fellow Americans - are prey to expensive and often risky products. The alternative is the imposition of FIDUCIARY STANDARDS OF CONDUCT on all providers of investment and financial advice. Anyone who suggests how Americans use their hard-earned savings should be required to act in the best interests of the client. Want to change Wall Street? Want to better America? Want to secure the future retirement security for tens of millions of Americans? Adopt, as one central part of this movement, a call for imposition of fiduciary standards of conduct. Don't let the large investment banks (Wall Street broker dealer firms) and insurance companies continue to extract excessive fees and costs. We all deserve trusted advisors, not hawkers of illiquid, risky, deficient investment products (such as mortgage-backed securities consisting of sub-prime loans).