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DOL Proposes 60-Day Fiduciary Rule Delay

The Department of Labor today published a proposed rule in the Federal Register to extend the applicability date of the agency’s fiduciary rule for 60 days. The rule is scheduled to begin implementation on April 10th, but will extend to June 9th upon adoption of the new rule.

The fiduciary rule attempts to reduce conflicts of interest in retirement investment advice and redefines who is considered an investment advice fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974. According to the DOL fiduciary rule, all who provide retirement investment advice to plans, plan fiduciaries and IRAs are required to abide by a “fiduciary” standard.

Today’s action follows a presidential memorandum issued last month, 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.

The DOL said that the proposed extension is intended to give the department time to collect and consider information related to the issues raised in the memorandum before the rule and exemptions become applicable.

The department will accept public comments on the proposed extension for 15 days following today’s publication. Comments on issues raised in the presidential memorandum will be accepted for 45 days.

The Office of Management and Budget completed its review of the proposed rule to delay implementation of the fiduciary rule on Tuesday.

Comments can be submitted to the Federal eRulemaking Portal, via email or by regular mail. All submissions must include the agency name and the regulatory identification number: RIN 1210-AB79.

The Federal eRulemaking Portal: http://www.regulations.gov

Email: EBSA.FiduciaryRuleExamination@dol.gov Include RIN 1210-AB79 in the subject line.

Mail: Office of Regulations and Interpretations, Employee Benefits Security

Administration, Room N-5655, U.S. Department of Labor, 200 Constitution Avenue NW,

Washington, DC 20210, Attention: Fiduciary Rule Examination.

Comments will be available to the public at www.regulations.gov and www.dol.gov/ebsa

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