The Department of Labor&#8217;s Fiduciary Rule

View the press release here.

July 7, 2020

The Department of Labor issued proposed regulation “Improving Investment Advice for Workers and Retirees” that provides Proposed Prohibited Transaction Exemption 2020-02. This was deemed DOL Fiduciary Rule 3.0 and PTE 2020-02 is the latest iteration for compliance with Rollover and IRA transactions.
The DOL rule brings back the five-part test to determine if an advisor is a fiduciary as follows:

The financial advisor must render advice as to the value of securities or other property;
The advisor must do so on a regular basis;
The advisor must do so under an agreement with the client;
That advice will serve as a primary basis for the client’s investment decisions; and
The recommendation is to be based on the particular needs of the investment or retirement plan.

In addition to the five-part test, the DOL withdrew guidance it had previously issued in the Deseret Letter.

Post-Issuance of Fiduciary Rule 2.0

May 2, 2018

The Fifth Circuit issues per curium order denying motions for intervention.

June 21, 2018

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued its highly anticipated mandate making official and permanent its March 15, 2018, decision to vacate the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule in its entirety.

View the mandate here.

March 24, 2018

The NAFA Board of Directors announced it is withdrawing its lawsuit challenging the Department of Labor fiduciary rule. In a filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, NAFA and the United States Department of Justice agreed to a voluntary dismissal of the appeal.

NAFA’s decision comes on the heels of a ruling by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued March 15, 2018, which vacated the fiduciary rule in its entirety. The NAFA lawsuit was one of two lawsuits challenging the authority of the Department of Labor to issue the rule.

March 16, 2018

NAFA releases a statement on a decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit regarding a legal challenge to the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule.

View the press release here.

View the court decision here.

September 15, 2017

NAFA, the National Association for Fixed Annuities, submits this letter in strong support of the Department of Labor’s proposed 18-month extension of the current transition period and delay of the applicability dates for the Best Interest Contract Exemption (PTE 2016-01), the Class Exemption for Principal Transactions in Certain Assets Between Investment Advice Fiduciaries and Employee Benefit Plans and IRAs (PTE 2016-02), and the Prohibited Transaction Exemption 84-24 (PTE 84-24) as set forth in the Department’s recent Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.

View comment letter here.

August 9, 2017

In response to the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) request for information (RFI) issued July 6, NAFA, the National Association for Fixed Annuities, submitted a comment letter outlining recommended revisions to the fiduciary rule and its prohibited transaction exemptions. Specifically, the letter provides the Department with rationale for expanding the scope of PTE 84-24 to cover fixed indexed annuities as well as fixed rate annuities.

July 25, 2017

In a letter submitted to the U.S. Department of Labor, NAFA, the National Association for Fixed Annuities, is urging the Department to extend the January 1, 2018 implementation date of the fiduciary duty rule (“the Rule”). NAFA’s comment letter was filed in response to a July 6, 2017 Request for Information in which the Department sought input regarding the advisability of extending the January 1, 2018 applicability date of certain provisions of the Rule relating to the prohibited transactions exemptions, including the Best Interest Contract (“BIC”) Exemption and PTE 84-24.

April 17, 2017

In a letter submitted to the Department of Labor, NAFA, the National Association for Fixed Annuities is urging a further delay of the fiduciary duty rule beyond its current June 9 partial applicability date, while the Department completes its comprehensive examination of the rule as directed by President Trump in his White House Memorandum issued February 3.

March 14, 2017

NAFA has submitted a comment letter to the DOL regarding the proposed 60-day delay of the fiduciary rule’s applicability date. As the comment letter makes clear, NAFA strongly supports a proposed delay to give the DOL time to review significant questions of law and policy raised by the rule and in support of the memorandum issued by the President on February 3, 2017.

February 17, 2017

NAFA files a comment letter in general opposition to the Department’s Proposed Best Interest Contract Exemption for Insurance Intermediaries. Recognizing that the Proposed Exemption would have devastating effects on IMOs – particularly on small and mid-size organizations, many of which are NAFA members – NAFA’s comment letter addressed, in particular, the arbitrary and unjustifiable $1.5 billion premium threshold and the 1%-of-premium ‘financial responsibility’ set-aside requirement that IMOs would need to meet in order to qualify under the exemption.

November 29, 2016

NAFA files an emergency motion for an injunction pending appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in its continued fight to stay the DOL rule.

View the Emergency Motion here.

November 23, 2016

District of Columbia federal judge Randolph D. Moss denies NAFA’s renewed motion for a preliminary injunction to stay the applicability date of the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule scheduled to go into effect April 10, 2017.

View the opinion here.

November 7, 2016

Following a federal district court decision upholding the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule, NAFA announces plans to appeal to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.

View the Conflict of Interest Exemptions FAQs here.

October 27, 2016

The Department of Labor (DOL) issues its first set of guidance related to the fiduciary rule in the form of 34 FAQs for industry professionals.

August 25, 2016

A hearing on a motion for preliminary injunction and summary judgment was held in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in Washington, D.C. in NAFA’s lawsuit against the Department of Labor.

Learn more here.

June 16, 2016

NAFA hosts a webinar “NAFA Versus Department of Labor: The Challenge Is Now in the Courts” to provide an update from Capitol Hill.

Listen to the webinar here.

June 2, 2016

NAFA files a lawsuit in D.C. District Court against the Department of Labor alleging the rule will cause “irreparable harm” to members and minimize or eliminate consumer access to the products and professionals they need to secure their retirement future.

View the complaint here.

April 26, 2016

NAFA issues a statement indicating its support of Congressional efforts to stop DOL’s fiduciary rule.

April 21, 2016

The NAFA Board of Directors authorizes action on the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule.

April 6, 2016

NAFA responds to the issuance of the U.S. Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule in its final form.

Final Rule
Best Interest Contract Exemption
Class Exemption for Principal Transactions
Amendment to PTE 75-1, Part V
Amendments to and Partial Revocation of PTEs 86-128 and 75-1
Amendments to Class Exemptions 75-1, 77-4, 80-83 and 83-1
Amendment to and Partial Revocation of PTE 84-24

April 6, 2016

Final Fiduciary Rule — Available in Federal Register Vol. 81, No. 68

Pre-Issuance of Fiduciary Rule 2.0

December 9, 2015

Senator Ron Johnson, Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, submits a letter to the chairman and vice chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee requesting use of an omnibus appropriations bill to prohibit the DOL from implementing the fiduciary duty rule based on DOL’s unwillingness to share requested documentation and to address concerns from career, nonpartisan, professional experts from within the SEC, Treasury and FINRA regarding issues with the proposal.

December 4, 2015

Senators Robert Portman and Benjamin Cardin submit a letter to the DOL highlighting concerns about the current proposal and urging Secretary Perez to request Congressional involvement in examining the larger retirement policy framework and designing updates to the system if needed before finalizing a rule.

October 30, 2015

A group of 47 Democratic members of Congress submit a letter to the DOL highlighting concerns about the current proposal and recommending that upon determining the specific changes that will be made, the DOL open a 15-30 day comment period prior to finalizing the rule to help prevent unintended harmful consequences for low and middle income savers.

View NAFA GRC’s summary of PTE 84-24 here.

October 9, 2015

NAFA’s Government Relations Committee (GRC) completes a summary breaking down the current Prohibited Transaction Exemption (PTE) 84-24, how it would be impacted by the proposed fiduciary duty rule and NAFA’s summary of concerns with these changes to help members better understand the potential ramifications.

September 24, 2015

NAFA files its second comment letter to provide the Department of Labor-Employee Benefits Security Administration with further feedback and insight on the Department’s Proposed Conflict of Interest Rule (RIN 1210-AB32) and the Proposed Amendment to and Proposed Partial Revocation of Prohibited Transaction Exemption 84-24 (ZRIN 1210-ZA25).

View NAFA’s second comment letter here.

August 10-13, 2015

Upon conclusion of the public comment period, the DOL scheduled four days of public hearings to get a better perspective from organizations representing all sides of the issue.

Access the public hearing transcripts below.

August 10, 2015
August 11, 2015
August 12, 2015
August 13, 2015

August 12, 2015

The Secure Family Coalition, of which NAFA is a member, releases two commercial video spots that will air in a nationally televised fiduciary public affairs campaign.

View the television spots by clicking on the videos below.

August 6, 2015

A bipartisan group of Senators members submits a letter to the DOL highlighting issues in the current proposal and encouraging Secretary Perez to ensure DOL revisits and revises the proposal based on public comment letters and feedback.