I appreciate the need to protect retail investors from making decisions when they do not fully understand the risks or other features of the products. It is reasonable to require the broker to take steps to educate retail investors and conduct some sort of test to make sure that they understand what they are getting into. But insurmountable obstacles should not be thrown in the path of retail investors who are willing to put in the effort to understand what they are doing. There are many retail investors who are highly intelligent and perfectly capable of understanding what they are doing, if the right resources are provided.
Joel T. Giedt Comment On Regulatory Notice 22-08
I appreciate the need to protect retail investors from making decisions when they do not fully understand the risks or other features of the products. It is reasonable to require the broker to take steps to educate retail investors and conduct some sort of test to make sure that they understand what they are getting into. But insurmountable obstacles should not be thrown in the path of retail investors who are willing to put in the effort to understand what they are doing. There are many retail investors who are highly intelligent and perfectly capable of understanding what they are doing, if the right resources are provided.