DOL Fiduciary Rule Reboot Lands at OMB

Fred Reish, partner at Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath in Los Angeles, told ThinkAdvisor in a Tuesday email that word on the street is that the Labor rule “is primarily a prohibited transaction exemption intended to replace the Best Interest Contract Exemption, which was vacated by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, and the temporary non-enforcement policy that provided relief in light of the BICE being vacated.”

Reish has also heard that “the fiduciary regulation may be modified to more clearly apply to advisors who are not covered by the SEC’s Regulation Best Interest or the RIA fiduciary standard. It’s not clear how that will be done or what other changes will be made to the ERISA fiduciary definition.”

Brad Campbell, former head of EBSA who’s now a partner at Faegre Drinker, told ThinkAdvisor in a previous interview that Rutledge’s departure won’t result “in any additional delay to current outstanding projects at EBSA, given the strength of his deputy, Jeanne Wilson, and the importance of the agency’s mission to current events.”

— Related on ThinkAdvisor:

• Rep. Phil Roe Says DOL Should Hold Off on Fiduciary Rule Reboot
• Human Capital: FrontLine Compliance’s Lynch Details Regulatory Relief Due to Coronavirus
• Reg BI Compliance Race Is On