Senate Confirms Walsh as Labor Secretary

Dale Brown, president and CEO of the Financial Services Institute, said Monday in a statement that with “increased discussions around worker classification, we encourage Secretary Walsh to preserve the independent contractor status for advisors who choose the independent model to better serve their clients and operate their own business.”

FSI also looks forward “to engaging with the Department to ensure the success of its recent prohibited transaction exemption (PTE) for investment advice fiduciaries,” Brown said. Labor’s PTE “is an example of how collaboration across regulatory agencies and the industry can lead to effective rulemaking that provides consistent regulatory standards and reduces confusion.”

Wayne Chopus, president and CEO of the Insured Retirement Institute, said Monday in a statement that IRI looks forward “to partnering with Secretary Walsh and his team to complete the implementation of the landmark retirement legislation passed by Congress in 2019, the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Security (SECURE) Act.”

In a surprise move, Labor allowed the Trump administration’s fiduciary prohibited transaction exemption to go into effect on Feb. 16.

The exemption, called “Improving Investment Advice for Worker & Retirees,” is “broadly aligned” with the Security and Exchange Commission’s Regulation Best Interest, according to Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration.

Labor, however, said on March 10 that it will abandon two rules adopted under the Trump administration that would have made it more difficult for retirement plans to consider environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in their investment options and in their proxy votes.

(Photo: Bloomberg)