The study and Robert's comment above raise a broader and ongoing question: How much of government conduct is motivated to increase turf or to justify its own conduct? That, in turn, raises the question: How can such motivations be countered?

This is one of the most explicit attempts by the regulators to require the formalization of cybersecurity compliance procedures, just as firms would formalize procedures to obtain best execution or to prevent insider trading. Firms that have not done so are thus warned that cyber, and other technology risks, should be fully integrated into their compliance programs.  

Commissioner Jackson is implicitly critical of a market dominated by passive index funds. On a big picture level, the SEC's proposed "" very likely drives the market in that direction as it increases the legal risk that brokers undertake in making individual securities recommendations to clients. This does not demonstrate that the regulation is inherently bad: only that, whatever benefits the regulators believe Regulation Best Interest may provide, it also has significant costs. In…