The Department of Labor continues to “reach out to stakeholders” regarding the redraft of its rule to amend the definition of fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act so that DOL can “understand with granularity” what the “nature of the problem is and what the nature of various stakeholders’ concerns are” regarding the rulemaking, Labor Secretary Thomas Perez told reporters after his speech at the National Press Club in Washington on Monday.
When asked if DOL still plans to release in January the redraft of its controversial rule to amend the definition of fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, Perez declined to answer specifically, referring only to the January redraft release date as cited in DOL’s regulatory agenda.
DOL had announced in late May that it would further delay release of the fiduciary redraft from August to January.
The redraft, Perez said, is “on our regulatory agenda and we continue to reach out and listen to various stakeholders…and we continue to learn a lot from them,” Perez told reporters Monday.
At the press club to deliver a speech, “An Economy That Works for Everyone: The Labor Secretary’s Perspective,” Perez dodged addressing the public assertions that he was among the candidates to replace Attorney General Eric Holder, who resigned in late September.
Perez told reporters after his speech that his “focus continues to be here” at DOL.
The news in late September that Perez was among the candidates being considered to replace Holder had industry officials speculating if Perez’s exit could further delay the release of the fiduciary redraft.