March 2026 Public Policy Update

March has brought meaningful developments on many issues that matter to CFP® professionals, including retirement security, investor protection, housing affordability, digital assets regulation and more. CFP Board has been active on all these fronts, urging stronger protections against financial exploitation, supporting the expansion of retirement savings and tracking all the pieces Capitol Hill is juggling. Here is what you need to know.

Scott, Warren Housing Affordability Bill Advances

Affordability is on everyone's mind, including those in Congress. To help curb the rising costs of housing, on March 11, 2026, the Senate passed (89-10) the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act. The bipartisan bill aims to modernize federal housing programs and increase the supply of single-family homes. It remains to be seen if the House moves on the legislation, as President Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson are focused on the SAVE America Act, a voter identification bill. Rising home prices and limited inventory remain top-of-mind topics in financial planning conversations, and CFP Board will monitor whether housing affordability provisions find a path forward as Congress works through its packed agenda.

Retirement Takes Stage at State of the Union, and the Retirement Security Rule is Vacated

On February 24, 2026, the President delivered his State of the Union address and laid out a proposal to expand access to retirement savings for millions of Americans, stating that he would make available a retirement plan similar to the Thrift Savings Plan with a match from the federal government for contributions up to $1,000.

CFP Board welcomes the President's interest in expanding retirement security for all Americans. After a lifetime of hard work, Americans want and deserve the peace of mind that financial security brings them in their later years. However, for far too many people, a dignified retirement and financial independence remain an elusive goal, with only half of all private-sector employees in the U.S. having access to an employer-provided retirement plan. That is why CFP Board actively supports legislation to improve and expand retirement security, such as the Helping Young Americans Save for Retirement Act, the Auto Reenroll Act and other bills you can view here.

Separately, after final judgments entered in the U.S. District Courts for the Northern and Eastern Districts of Texas officially vacated the 2024 Retirement Security Rule, which CFP Board strongly supported, the Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) on March 18, 2026, restored the historical five-part test for determining whether a person is an investment advice fiduciary. In a statement, EBSA stated that it did not intend to engage in further rulemaking on the issue but that it would consider issuing guidance. CFP Board will continue to work to close critical regulatory gaps for retirement advice so that all financial professionals are required to provide retirement investment advice in their clients' best interests.

Empowering You to Raise Your Voice

In our last update, we announced CFP Board will soon roll out our Advocacy Center, a new grassroots advocacy platform powered by Voter Voice. CFP Board's Advocacy Center allows you to contact your elected officials on key issues with just a few clicks. We are currently asking CFP® professionals to take action now to support the Tax Relief for Victims of Crimes, Scams and Disasters Act. Under current tax law, some victims of financial scams are hit twice: first by the loss itself, and then by a tax bill on those lost assets. This critical piece of legislation would reinstate a federal tax deduction for theft losses.

Regulatory Watch

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) settled long-standing questions about when crypto assets are securities on March 17 by issuing an interpretation with a token taxonomy and settling some jurisdictional questions with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The SEC's framework sorts crypto assets into several buckets, including digital commodities, digital collectibles, digital tools, stablecoins and tokenized versions of traditional securities. The interpretation also discusses how issuers and platforms must comply with registration, disclosure and anti-fraud requirements and expectations for trading platforms, custodians and intermediaries. This comes on the heels of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the SEC and CFTC unveiled on March 11 to increase coordination and collaboration between the two federal agencies. Specifically, the two agencies' "Joint Harmonization Initiative" will focus on:

• Clarifying product definitions through joint interpretations and rulemakings.
• Modernizing clearing, margin and collateral frameworks.
• Reducing frictions for dually registered exchanges, trading venues and intermediaries.
• Providing a fit-for-purpose regulatory framework for crypto assets and other emerging technologies.
• Streamlining regulatory reporting for trade data, funds and intermediaries.
• Coordinating cross-market examinations, economic analyses, risk monitoring, surveillance and enforcement.

In other notable news, Judge Margaret A. Ryan resigned from her role as the SEC's Director of the Division of Enforcement on March 16.

CFP Board, FPA, NAPFA and XYPN Urge SEC to Update Outdated 'Small Entity' Investment Adviser Definition

CFP Board, along with the Financial Planning Association® (FPA®), the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) and XY Planning Network (XYPN) submitted a comment letter to the SEC supporting the need to update the "small entity" definition for investment advisers under the Regulatory Flexibility Act, an analytical framework that requires the SEC to assess the economic impact of its rulemaking on small entities and to consider regulatory alternatives that minimize burdens while still achieving a rule's objectives.

CFP Board, FPA, NAPFA and XYPN agree that the SEC's current $25 million regulatory assets under management (RAUM) threshold is outdated and requires updating, but suggest that a threshold based on firms' employee counts may better capture the regulatory burdens small businesses face than an RAUM-based standard. To the extent the SEC proceeds with its proposal to raise the RAUM threshold to $1 billion RAUM from $25 million, the organizations urge the SEC to provide further data-driven explanation to support its proposed amendment.

To read the full letter, please click here.

CFP Board and Others Urge FINRA to Protect Seniors From Financial Exploitation

On March 9, 2026, CFP Board, the Financial Planning Association® (FPA®) and the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) submitted a joint comment letter to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA), urging FINRA to strengthen its rules to protect seniors and other vulnerable adults from financial exploitation and all investors from fraud.

Incidents of reported investment fraud and corresponding consumer losses have skyrocketed in recent years, especially among seniors who are reported to have lost over $4.8 billion in 2024 alone. In the joint comment letter, CFP Board, FPA and NAPFA highlight the important role CFP® professionals play on the front lines of the fight against fraud and exploitation and strongly support FINRA's continued efforts to provide firms and financial professionals with important tools to combat this widespread problem, including the proposed amendments designed to encourage more investors to identify trusted contacts and to implement and extend temporary hold periods when financial exploitation or fraud is suspected.

The organizations recommend that FINRA go even further by:

• Requiring customers to either designate a trusted contact or affirmatively "opt out" of doing so;
• Consider mandatory reporting of suspected financial exploitation or fraud; and
• Provide an extended initial hold time for suspected fraud on all accounts to better protect everyone in cases of emergencies.

To read the full letter, please click here.