The Department of Labor late on Sept. 8 submitted its latest rule proposal on fiduciary investment advice for review to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs within the White House’s Office of Management and Budget.
OIRA has up to 90 days to review the proposal, meaning the department is likely to unveil it in the coming months.
Under the Biden administration, the department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration has indicated it is working on a proposal to amend the regulatory definition of the term fiduciary. In its latest regulatory agenda published in June, EBSA classified the regulatory project as “conflict of interest in investment advice.”
Specifically, “the amendment would take into account practices of investment advisers, and the expectations of plan officials and participants, and IRA owners who receive investment advice, as well as developments in the investment marketplace, including in the ways advisers are compensated that can subject advisers to harmful conflicts of interest,” the department said in its agenda.
“In conjunction with this rule-making, EBSA also will evaluate available prohibited transaction class exemptions and propose amendments or new exemptions to ensure consistent protection of employee benefit plan and IRA investors.”
The department’s work on fiduciary investment advice spans multiple administrations. In 2016, under the Obama administration, the department finalized a rule that broadened the definition of a person or entity taking on fiduciary responsibilities and replaced a five-part test used to determine whether an investment professional or financial institution serves as a fiduciary.
The rule was stuck down in federal court in 2018 following a challenge from industry groups led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
( This news/press release has not been altered by investment.net, apart from the headline, and has been obtained from a syndicated source:- https://www.pionline.com/washington/dol-submits-latest-fiduciary-rule-white-house-review)