DOL Won’t Delay June 9 Fiduciary Rule Compliance Date: Acosta

The department also intends to issue a request for information (RFI) “in the near future seeking additional public input on specific ideas for possible new exemptions or regulatory changes based on recent public comments and market developments.”

Labor states that it is “also aware that after the fiduciary duty rule and PTEs were issued firms have begun to develop new business models and innovative market products to mitigate conflicts of interest.”

The RFI will specifically ask for public comment on whether it is likely to take more time to implement these new approaches than what the department envisioned when it set Jan. 1, 2018, as the applicability date for full compliance with all of the exemptions’ conditions, and, if so, whether an additional delay of that date would reduce burdens on financial services providers and benefit retirement investors by allowing for a smoother implementation of those market changes.

Said Acosta in his op-ed: “From administration to administration, respect for the rule of law has remained, even when Americans have been bitterly divided. Some who call for immediate action on the Obama administration’s regulations are frustrated with the slow process of public notice and comment. But this process is not red tape. It is what ensures that agency heads do not act on whims, but rather only after considering the views of all Americans. Admittedly, this means deregulation must find its way through the thicket of law. Casting aside the thicket, however, would leave Americans vulnerable to regulatory whim.”

The Labor Department, he continued, “will roll back regulations that harm American workers and families. We will do so while respecting the principles and institutions that make America strong.”

— Related on ThinkAdvisor:

• Courts Will Not View DOL Fiduciary Rule Repeal Favorably: Borzi
• For DOL, Killing Fiduciary Rule Easier Said Than Done