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DC Appeals Court Responds to NAFA’s Fiduciary Rule Injunction Request

The National Association for Fixed Annuities (NAFA) has gotten a response to its request for an injunction pending appeal.

In a short — some might say terse — response, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit noted that NAFA “has not satisfied the stringent requirements for an injunction pending.”

That came in response to NAFA’s request last month seeking a motion for a preliminary injunction to prevent the new rules from taking effect “until at least ten months (or as much as two years) following the final disposition of th[e] litigation,” and a motion seeking either an “expedited status conference” or “expedited relief” on NAFA’s renewed motion for a preliminary injunction.

Looks like that’s not going to happen.

While the NAFA suit was the first to be ruled upon, other challenges to the fiduciary regulation are still pending in the District of Kansas (oral arguments heard on Sept. 23), as well as a consolidation of three separate lawsuits that was heard last month in the 5th Circuit. A sixth, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, is also pending. Of course, not only are the cases filed in different federal court districts, there are significant differences in the causes of action alleged.

And, of course, the lingering uncertainty as to how the Trump Administration might act on the rule — or not.