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March 21, 2012 at 09:51 AM
Lawmakers took Labor Secretary Hilda Solis to task Wednesday over how the DOL’s recrafting of its fiduciary rule is progressing—specifically how the department is collaborating with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the timing of the reproposed rule, and the rule’s inclusion of individual retirement accounts (IRAs).
Solis testified before the House Committee on Education and The Workforce on Labor’s 2013 budget and the agency’s priorities.
Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y., who also sits on the House Financial Services Committee, told Solis that a final outcome on DOL’s and SEC’s fiduciary duty rules “has been dragging on for some time now. It’s not good. Businesses need to know what to do.” McCarthy said Labor officials “need to sit down with members of Congress [and discuss] where this [fiduciary rule] is going.”
McCarthy added that “many of us here on this particular committee, [and] many on the Financial Services Committee, would like to work together and see if we can come to some sort of resolution in the near future.”
Solis replied that she would encourage Phyllis Borzi, assistant secretary of labor of the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), the chief architect in re-crafting the proposed fiduciary rule, to set up a meeting with lawmakers.
McCarthy also questioned Solis on why Labor has said it may release its reproposed rule in May when the SEC has not given a specific timeline for releasing its fiduciary rule.
Solis said: “I’m not interested in pushing this [reproposed rule out] until we have everything we need. We want to have a fully fleshed-out rule.”
