Final DOL Investment Advice Fiduciary Rules

On April 6, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released new regulations that “redefine the ‘investment advice fiduciary’ under ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code.” In an article published in the Bank Insurance & Securities Association’s OneSource newsletter, Faegre Baker Daniels partners Megan Hladilek and Doug Heffernan and associate Graham Widmer discussed the main takeaways of the new rules. In particular, they observed that the policy expands the pool of investment providers subject to the fiduciary standards of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)—the culmination of the DOL’s “five-year rulemaking effort to subject a wider array of retirement plan and IRA advisers, brokers, consultants and other investment providers to ERISA’s exacting fiduciary standards.”

“Responding to industry comments, the DOL resolved some uncertainties in the ‘investment advice fiduciary’ definition, relaxed several exemption requirements, and provided transition relief and an extended deadline for compliance,” the article said.