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DOL Seeks 18-Month Delay to Remaining Fiduciary Rule Provisions

The Department of Labor is seeking to delay implementation of the remaining provisions of the fiduciary rule for 18 months until July 1, 2019, according to a notice filed in the Thrivent Financial for Lutherans court case.

The rule’s initial implementation began on June 9th with the remaining provisions, including the controversial best interest contract exemption, slated to take effect on January 1, 2018.

Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta informed the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota that, in addition to the 18-month proposed delay, the DOL also submitted proposed amendments to three exemptions to the Office of Management and Budget.

The exemptions include the best interest contract exemption (PTE 2016-01); the class exemption for principal transactions (PTE 2016-02); and the prohibited transaction exemption involving insurance agents and brokers (PTE 84-24).

The notification is expected to post on the OMB regulatory review list on Thursday morning, and should take effect if and when the OMB reviews and approves the proposal.

The rule expands the definition of investment advice fiduciary and is currently under review as ordered by President Trump. The DOL recently asked for the public’s input on various aspects of the rule, including whether to extend the applicability date and other possible changes to the rule.

The comment period for the applicability date delay ended on July 21st and received 1554 individual responses and 39 petitions, while the comment period for all other responses ended on August 7th and received 503 individual comments and 8 petitions.

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