The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) today announced a proposed extension of the applicability dates of the fiduciary rule and related exemptions, including the Best Interest Contract Exemption, from April 10 to June 9, 2017.
The announcement follows a presidential memorandum issued on Feb. 3, 2017, which directed the DOL to examine the fiduciary rule to determine whether it may adversely affect the ability of Americans to gain access to retirement information and financial advice. See our prior post, which explained that the President’s memorandum
..instructs the DOL to rescind or revise the rule . . . if it concludes for any other reason after appropriate review that the Fiduciary Duty Rule is inconsistent with the Administration’s stated priority “to empower Americans to make their own financial decisions, to facilitate their ability to save for retirement and build the individual wealth necessary to afford typical lifetime expenses, such as buying a home and paying for college, and to withstand unexpected financial emergencies”.
The DOL’s latest announcement invites comments that might help inform updates to the legal and economic analysis it conducted in originally issuing the rule (during President Obama’s term), including any issues the public believes were inadequately addressed in the prior analysis. The DOL has also invited comments on market responses to the final rule and the related Prohibited Transaction Exemptions (PTEs) to date, and on the costs and benefits attached to such responses. The comment period runs 45 days from today.
Upon completion of its examination, the DOL may decide to allow the
final rule and PTEs to become applicable, issue a further extension of the applicability date, propose to withdraw the rule, or propose amendments to the rule and/or the PTEs.
