The US Financial Planning Association has written a letter to the Securities Exchange Commission asking it to close a loophole in securities regulation it attempted to address when it adopted a rule colloquially known as "The Merrill Rule" in 2005. The “Broker-Dealers Deemed Not To Be Investment Advisers” rule became known in the industry as The Merrill Rule because it was adapted to stop broker-dealer representative, like that of the brokerage giant Merrill Lynch, from dispensing investment advice without registering its reps under the Investment Advisers Act. “There continues to be substantial confusion in the financial services industry regarding the point at which a broker-dealer's activities implicate the Advisers Act's coverage. Because this only serves to confuse the investing public, the FPA seeks additional staff guidance,” the letter stated. A section of the Investment Advisers Act, introduced in 2005, exempted from the definition of an "investment adviser" a broker-dealer whose performance of advisory services is solely incidental to the conduct of its business as a broker-dealer and who receives no special compensation for such advisory services. Despite attempts by the large wire houses to avoid registering under the act by exploiting the loophole, the FPA has stated firms are providing financial advice without adhering to the same disclosure standards as the rest of the financial planning industry. “We respectfully submit that broker-dealers may not avoid coverage of the Advisers Act merely by segmenting their financial planning activities into discrete subject areas and avoiding the use of the terms “financial planning” or “financial plan.”,” the letter stated.