DOL Fiduciary Rule on Life Support But Not Dead Yet

On May 7, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced a temporary enforcement policy regarding its “fiduciary rule” regulations in response to the Fifth Circuit decision vacating the regulations.  The fiduciary rule regulations extend ERISA’s fiduciary standards to persons who provide investment advice to (i) retirement plan participants, (ii) IRA owners, and (iii) HSA owners.  For more information on the regulations, please see our prior HRBenefitsAuthority, dated April 14, 2016.

Temporary Enforcement Policy.  The DOL announced that fiduciaries impacted by the fiduciary rule regulations would benefit from an indefinite “good faith” compliance standard with respect to the regulations’ “impartial conduct standards” until further guidance is issued.  For more information on the impartial conduct standards, please see our prior HRBenefitsAuthority, dated August 10, 2017.

Current Status of Fiduciary Rule.  The DOL issued its temporary enforcement policy on the same day that the Fifth Circuit decision vacating the fiduciary rule regulations became final.  However, even though it appears unlikely, the DOL could theoretically seek review of the Fifth Circuit’s opinion by the Supreme Court.  For more information on the recent court decisions regarding the fiduciary rule regulations, please see our prior HRBenefitsAuthority, dated March 21, 2018.
To add to the confusion regarding the continued vitality of the DOL’s fiduciary rule regulations, in April 2018, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released a proposed version of its own fiduciary rule, which is still in the public comment period.

Contact Information.  For more information, please contact Don Mazursky (404.888.8840), David Putnal (404.888.8836), Toby Walls (404.888.8870), Teri King (404.888.8847), Angela Roberts (404.888.8822) or Alex Smith (404.888.8839).