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DOL Drops off Final Fiduciary Rule at OMB

Fiduciary Rules and Practices

In a year chock-full of proposed rules and final regulations, the Labor Department has apparently wrapped up its work on a new fiduciary rule.

According to a posting on the Office of Management and Budget website, the DOL on Nov. 24 dropped off its final rule on its proposed advice package, “Improving Investment Advice for Workers & Retirees,” which had been released June 29. In general, the package restored the 1975 five-part test on the conditions for advice to constitute “investment advice” and proposes a new prohibited transaction exemption allowing investment advice fiduciaries under ERISA to receive compensation, including as a result of advice to roll over assets from a plan to an IRA.

Since then, the DOL had conducted a hearing on that package—one that was full of comments and criticisms of the proposal, not the least of which was that it felt a bit “rushed,” and ostensibly sought to conform to/with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Regulation BI (best interest), which had only just become effective.

While we don’t yet know what’s in the final version, the filing does suggest that the final rule is “economically significant.” Here’s hoping it doesn’t turn out to be a Thanksgiving “turkey.”