DOL Issues
The plaintiffs in the first lawsuit filed challenging the Department of Labor (DOL’s) fiduciary regulation take an aggressive stance in their motion for summary judgment.The 52-page filing starts (once the table of contents and table of authorities are dispensed with) by calling out the DOL for its...
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The American Retirement Association (ARA) has partnered with Morningstar, Inc. to develop a program that sets a new standard in fiduciary education and best practices.The IRA Fiduciary Adviser education program is designed to prepare advisers for a continuously shifting regulatory environment. The...
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The Department of Labor (DOL) wants the information form that private-sector employee benefit plans file each year to have more information — and to be more “mineable.”The DOL’s Employee Benefits Security Administration, the IRS and the PBGC are seeking public comments on proposed revisions that...
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The Department of Labor (DOL) has made some “technical corrections” to the Best Interest Contract (BIC) Exemption of the fiduciary regulation. The DOL issued the corrections on July 7; it had published the BIC Exemption in the April 8, 2016 Federal Register.The DOL notes that all of the corrections...
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A House appropriations bill takes another shot at the Department of Labor’s (DOL) fiduciary rule, while a litigant’s suit has now jumped to the front of the hearing queue.Under the heading of “Reducing Harmful Red Tape,” the House Committee on Appropriations said, “the legislation includes several...
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Top leadership at the Department of Labor (DOL) has indicated that the department will not bend on its fiduciary rule, but then again, it may. Bad cop, good cop?Not entirely. Secretary of Labor Tom Perez and Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA)...
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Less than a year till zero hour on the Department of Labor’s (DOL) fiduciary rule. And while it is imminent but not formally implemented just yet, it’s already having an effect — and panel discussions at the June 20-21 SPARK National Conference in Washington, DC offered insights into those effects...
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July is next month. Obvious, but important for DB plans, DC plans and 403(b) annuity arrangements with calendar year plan years to keep that in mind, since that means the July 31 Form 5500 filing deadline for 2015 is not far off. Filers should remember that the following changes were made for 2015...
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It didn’t happen until late in the evening, but the U.S. House of Representatives voted on June 22 on overturning President Obama’s veto of Congress’ resolution to kill the Labor Department’s fiduciary regulation. The party line vote — 239-180 — fell short of the two-thirds majority needed to...
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A strong majority of attendees at a recent conference for executives, investment professionals and registered investment advisors expect that changes to their technological systems will be necessary in order to comply with the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule. An even greater majority expect...
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The three lawsuits filed against the Department of Labor’s (DOL) fiduciary regulation in the Northern District of Texas could be coming together. The DOL has filed an “unopposed motion to consolidate cases” with the court, arguing that: all three actions challenge the same agency rulemaking...
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Last Week Tonight with John Oliver recently included a segment that was deeply critical of the financial services industry and specifically referenced the 401(k) plan that the show’s production company has with John Hancock. Here’s John Hancock’s response.“As could have been inferred from the...
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You may have missed it, but you’ll likely be hearing a lot about John Oliver’s take on retirement savings, financial advisors, small plans, and the fiduciary regulation. Warning: It isn’t pretty.HBO’s “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” spent about 20 minutes talking about those issues,...
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Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mary Jo White told the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs on June 14 that her agency is indeed working on a fiduciary rule of its own, but will not be issuing it anytime soon. She made her remarks in testimony to the committee as part of...
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Last week, House Republicans released the first of six documents detailing their policy agenda, a portion of which included recommendations to “build retirement security through the private retirement system.” The most notable aspect of the report, however — a blueprint from the Task Force on...
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Two more lawsuits have been filed charging the Department of Labor’s (DOL) fiduciary regulation with a host of “sins” and shortcomings. One was filed by the Indexed Annuity Leadership Council (IALC), an association of insurance companies that offer fixed indexed annuities, along with several...
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As expected (and promised), President Obama has vetoed Congress’ resolution that would have nullified the Labor Department’s fiduciary regulation. “The outdated regulations in place before this rulemaking did not ensure that financial advisers act in their clients’ best interests when giving...
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While the pace of litigation can sometimes be lengthy and arduous to predict, we could have a summary judgment ruling on at least one of the cases challenging the fiduciary regulation in relatively short order. Judge Randolph D. Moss has issued a scheduling order in the case of National...
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Less than 24 hours after the filing of litigation challenging the Department of Labor’s (DOL) fiduciary regulation, a second lawsuit was filed June 2.This one, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by the National Association for Fixed Annuities, seeks to “challenge and...
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As anticipated, a number of retirement industry trade groups and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have taken their case against the Department of Labor’s (DOL) fiduciary regulation to the courts. Filed on June 1 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, the 74-page suit claims...
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