The DOL publicly announced its proposal to further delay the applicability date of certain parts of the Fiduciary rule by 18 months in a notice of administrative action filed in a district court case in Minnesota, Thrivent Financial Lutherans v. Acosta, 16-cv-3289-SRN-DTS (D. Minn.). The proposal filed with the OMB is not yet publicly available. The DOL’s filing in the district court case indicates that the DOL has proposed to delay the application of BICE, the Principal Transactions Exemption, and Prohibited Transaction Exemption 84-24 for certain transactions involving insurance agents and brokers, pension consultants, insurance companies.
Once the DOL’s proposal to delay the applicability date is approved by OMB, the proposed delay will likely be subject to public comment before the DOL formally delays the implementation of the Fiduciary rule and certain related exemptions.
At this time, the future of the DOL’s Fiduciary rule remains unclear. However, for now, plan sponsors and named fiduciaries should continue to prepare for full implementation and enforcement of the DOL’s Fiduciary rule. Many facets of the Fiduciary rule became effective on June 9, 2017. Until the DOL issues further guidance, plan sponsors and named fiduciaries should expect that the remaining portions of the Fiduciary rule, including BICE and the Principal Transactions Exemption will become applicable on January 1, 2018.
We will continue to monitor the implementation of the Fiduciary rule and related exemptions and provide an update as it becomes available. For further information, including information about conflicts of interest and BICE, please see our prior Client Alerts dated June 9, 2017, May 8, 2015, and April 28, 2017, and the Summer 2016 issue of Perspectives.