THE BAIS HAVAAD HALACHA JOURNAL: Volume 5775 Issue XXI Parshas Ki Sisa Obama Attacks Financial Advisers Putting Your Client’s Interests First by Rabbi Yitzchak Grossman

President Obama has recently proposed raising the legal standard to which financial brokers are held. Currently, it is sufficient that their recommendations be “suitable” for their clients; the new, higher standard of “fiduciary responsibility” would require them to put their clients' interest before their own: "It's a very simple principle: You want to give financial advice, you’ve got to put your client’s interests first. You can't have a conflict of interest."1 In this article we explore some of the halachic considerations that govern the provision of financial advice, particularly in the context of conflicts of interest.