First in a Series on UCC.
Image Credit: TN House GOP.
Article by David Seal, Tennessee Conservative News –
A new documentary film, The Retirement Reset, explores the grave risk you face with your investments. The film, produced by Andrew Winnett, features retired Tennessee Legislator Bud Hulsey, Tucker Carlson, Ben Stein, and many other noted economists.
Economist Stein is interviewed in Winnett’s film and states that he is “terrified” of the possibilities that investors face in the case of an economic meltdown. Others in the movie predict an economic apocalypse with you, the investor, last in line to get paid when the chips fall.
Here is what you need to know about the current state of the law.
When you visit your local financial broker and invest your hard-earned money, you will likely not be advised that your money enters a complex web of digital financial products that do not actually bear your name.
In East Tennessee terms, your financial assets are horse-traded among middlemen; those middlemen are called “securities intermediaries.” You, the investor, are not referred to as the owner. You are called an “entitlement holder.”
If a securities intermediary pledges stocks to give banks ownership without your knowledge and consent in their system of investments and gets in financial trouble and creditors come calling on them for a settlement, you, the entitlement holder, are last in line to get any financial crumbs that are left over.
Back in 1994, the largest banks in America, and other financial institutions, used their political juice and well-paid lobbyists to amend Section 8 of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC). That is when you were placed last in line in all 50 states.
Bud Hulsey proposed legislation in 2024 to put investors in a better posture to get paid in the event of a financial meltdown. The financial institutions for which the UCC Section 8 was custom made, objected to Hulsey’s bill.
The documentary film The Retirement Reset can be accessed on any digital device at the link below.
Use Promocode UCC8
A prominent attorney who works in this field provided the Tennessee Conservative News with an exclusive interview for this news report. His comments are as follows.
“This is a property rights issue and an informed consent issue. People assume the investments in their IRA or 401(k) belong to them – no strings attached. There are strings attached and no one discloses this risk to the individual investor.
Under the UCC you do not receive full ownership in the way most of us think about it. It is not the same as holding a physical asset in your hands.
Under the UCC when you put money into an investment what you actually receive is a ‘security entitlement’ a new type of property right conjured out of thin air by the attorneys who drafted UCC Article 8. This form of ‘property ownership’ comes with strings attached.
Today all digital securities are held by a depository – primarily Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC) and its subsidiaries. Securities are held at DTCC in vast pools with no ownership identification for the investor. Your name does not appear anywhere at that level.
One of the main arguments against our efforts to protect property rights is that it is illegal for a Wall Street firm to pledge your assets as collateral for the Wall Street firm’s loan. Of course, it’s illegal – and I know it is hard to imagine someone on Wall Street breaking the law. And, there are laws against many things, burglary to murder – but those things still happen.
A primary objective of UCC Article 8 is that the bank lender – the ‘too big to fail’ bank is protected – with your assets – specifically when the law is broken and your assets are used as collateral without your permission. They refer to this as ‘legal certainty’.
You are left with a weak contractual claim against your broker instead of your stocks and bonds. That is not retirement security.” – said Don R. Grande, P.C., West Fargo North Dakota
The next report will feature Hulsey’s proposed legislation in detail.
About the Author: David Seal is a retired Jefferson County educator, recognized artist, local businessman, 917 Society Volunteer, and past Chairman of the Jefferson County Republican Party. He has also served Jefferson County as a County Commissioner and is a citizen lobbyist for the people on issues such as eminent domain, property rights, education, and broadband accessibility on the state level. David is also a 2024 winner of The Tennessee Conservative Flame Award & has received an accolade from the Institute For Justice for successfully lobbing the TN legislature to protect property rights. David can be reached at david@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
