Unclear Fate of DOL Fiduciary Rule Is a Clear Win for Wall Street

One of the first policy questions that came up after Donald Trump won the Nov. 8 presidential election was what would happen to the U. S. Department of Labor (DOL) fiduciary rule. Recent action from President Trump intended to give us that answer – but instead left us with conflicting details…
The DOL’s fiduciary rule requires particular financial advisers who handle retirement accounts to ‘act in their client’s best interest.’ It’s set to start April 10, 2017. It stems from a February 2015 request from then President Barack Obama to update the rules to be fairer for clients. [Go here to read about the difference between acting in a client’s best interest and the standard brokers are held to now…] Donald Trump, during his campaign, called to halt or dismantle the DOL’s fiduciary rule. It was part of his push to ban new regulations from federal agencies.
This critique was further pushed by House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI), who has criticized the fiduciary rule’s complexity and cost to small retirement savers. And according to the Director of Investor Protection at the Consumer Federation of America, Barbara Roper, the Republican-led Congress will ‘try and make good on its threat to repeal the rule.’
That was three months ago. So where are we now?

This post was published at Examiner on February 13, 2017.