A years-long battle in the U.S. over the standards that financial advisers and “broker-dealers” should be held to, when recommending products for their clients, will formally end today, when what is known as the Security and Exchange Commission’s Regulation Best Interest comes into effect.

An ongoing battle over the standards brokers, financial advisers and wealth managers in the U.S. should be held to – which dates back to the Obama years – took a new turn on Monday, when the states of New York, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, New Mexico, Oregon, and the District of Columbia filed suit in the Southern District of New York asking that a controversial package of new rules approved in June by the Securities and Exchange Commission be vacated.

As expected, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday approved a package of controversial new rules governing the way "broker/dealers" will sell their investment products after June 30, 2020, as debate about the merits of the new regime – and whether it goes far enough – continued across the country, and especially in Washington.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is expected on Wednesday to approve controversial legislation that is meant to set higher standards for “broker/dealers” – those selling retirement products, insurance and investment products to American consumers – as a years-long campaign by consumer advocates to boost advisory standards is formally acknowledged by the American securities regulator.