$20 assessment fee eliminated

Advertiser Staff

Investment advisers, securities sales people, broker-dealers and their firms no longer will be required to pay a $20 annual assessment to the state as part of Gov. Linda Lingle's efforts to reduce the cost of doing business in Hawai'i, the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs has announced.

The state also will save $1 million annually by not having to process the fees, according to Mark Recktenwald, who has been nominated to head the department.

The annual fee went into a fund that paid for securities enforcement.

The change went into effect Nov. 22.