DOL Appointment and Fiduciary Rule Delay are giving a glimpse into the future of Department objectives in the near future. As expected the Department of Labor released a final rule Tuesday delaying the implementation of its fiduciary duty regulation.
Under the DOL delay measure, which was posted on the Federal Register website, the fiduciary rule’s April 10 applicability date is pushed back to June 9.
The delay is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on Friday, April 7, and will take effect immediately.
The postponement means that the expanded definition of who is a fiduciary when giving advice to clients in retirement accounts as well as the impartial conduct standards will become applicable on June 9. Written disclosure requirements and the full best-interest contract exemption are still scheduled for Jan. 1, 2018, implementation.
The DOL is seeking the delay in order to reassess the rule as called for in a Feb. 3 directive from President Donald Trump, who told the agency to modify or repeal the regulation if it was projected to limit investors’ access to financial advice or cause an increase in litigation for firms.
Further delay is expected as the DOL conducts its review.
In a related issue, Alexander Acosta, President Trump’s nominee to head the Labor Department, was approved March 30 by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee. The full Senate will now vote on his nomination, though a date has not yet been set.
Acosta was approved by the HELP Committee 12-11 party-line vote. The nominee drew praise from committee chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.). “He’s been confirmed by the Senate three times—and I expect that we’ll confirm him a fourth,” said Alexander.
Currently Acosta serves as dean of Florida International University’s law school. He is a former NLRB member, federal prosecutor and Assistant Attorney General at the Justice Department.
