Glossary · Compliance and regulation
Regulation Best Interest, or Reg BI, is the SEC standard governing recommendations made by broker-dealers and their registered representatives to retail customers.
Reg BI does not apply to a standalone registered investment adviser. That firm is governed by the Advisers Act fiduciary duty instead. Dual registrants live under both, applied according to the capacity in which they are acting.
The distinction is conflated constantly, including by vendors selling compliance tooling.