U.S. brokerage firms are increasingly adopting an approach to fee disclosure proposed by the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA), in an effort to improve disclosure to clients.
NASAA announced Tueday that 14 U.S. broker-dealers are now using a fee schedule based on a model developed to enhance disclosure to investors by NASAA’s Model Fee Disclosure Working Group. In total, 27 firms have adopted fee schedules that are based on NASAA’s model.
The model disclosure is designed to help investors better understand and compare brokers’ account and service fees. It also provides guidance to make fee disclosure accessible and transparent.
“We are pleased to see the growing acceptance and use of the NASAA Model Fee Disclosure Schedule and I look forward to working with SIFMA, the FSI, and members of the securities industry to gain even wider use of the model next year,” says Joseph Borg, NASAA president and Alabama Securities Commission director, in a statement.
“All firms that have taken this important step to help bring uniformity to the disclosure of broker-dealer service and maintenance-related fees are commended and others are encouraged to match this level of disclosure for their clients,” Borg adds. “Through this collaborative initiative, industry and state securities regulators are increasing the transparency of fee disclosure for investors.”