DC Circuit ruling on broker dealers

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals today vacated the 2005 Securities and Exchange Commission rule deeming certain broker-dealers not to be investment advisers (17 CFR 275.202(a)(11)-1). The Court held that the Investment Advisers Act, 15 USC § 80b-2(a)(11)(F), does not authorize the SEC to except from the Investment Advisers Act a group that is already covered in another § 80b-2(a)(11) exception. The decision came in Financial Planning Association v. SEC, Case Numbers 04-1242 and 05-1145.