As ordered by President Trump in a presidential memorandum on February 3, 2017, (Memorandum), the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) proposed a 60-day delay to its conflict of interest rule (commonly referred to as the “fiduciary rule”). The fiduciary rule, which revised the definition of “fiduciary” for retirement investment advice purposes, was set to become effective on April 10, 2017. The proposed delay received more than 1,000 comments from those who would potentially be affected by the fiduciary rule. Those in support of the delay cited confusion among the financial services industry and feared the fiduciary rule would be further revised after becoming effective, adding to that confusion. Those opposed to the delay alluded to the fact that retirement investors would continue to receive conflicting advice, and as a result, investors would select higher-priced products and services. On April 4, 2017, just days before the fiduciary rule was slated to take effect, the DOL issued a final rule to delay its effective date to June 9, 2017. In keeping with the orders of the Memorandum, this extension will allow the DOL to further evaluate the rule.
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