D-Day: Hearing for controversial SRO plan set for June 6

Official debate on the controversial proposal to shift oversight of investment advisers from the Securities and Exchange Commission to a self-regulatory-organization will begin June 6 at a House Financial Services Committee hearing announced Wednesday. The Financial Services Institute, which supports the bill, said it expects to testify at the 10 am hearing in Washington. The Investment Adviser Association, which opposes the measure, said it hasn't yet been asked to appear, but hopes to be invited. In recent weeks, both advocates and opponents of the Investment Adviser Oversight Act of 2012 have boosted their lobbying efforts with congressmen. The IAA said Wednesday that it will go ahead with a planned June 7 Capitol Hill Day to send members to congressional offices to argue that a SRO would add a costly new layer of regulation for advisory firms. The bill to be examined on June 6 was introduced last month by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., and Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y. It would authorize one or more SROs for investment advisers that would report to the SEC. All advisers with retail clients would have to join one of the SROs and pay membership dues. (With reporting by Mark Schoeff Jr.)