On April 23, 2024, the DOL finalized its 2023 proposed package of amendments to the regulations defining who is a fiduciary under ERISA by virtue of providing investment advice for a fee, and amendments to seven existing prohibited transaction exemptions. This latest iteration of the fiduciary rule, the DOL’s third attempt at revising this rule, was published in the Federal Register on April 25, 2024, and is set to become effective September 23, 2024 (although there is a one-year transition period for PTEs 2020-02 and 84-24).

The DOL made a number of changes from the 2023 proposed rule in response to comments it received, and went to great lengths to distinguish the new rule from its 2016 rule, which was vacated by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. Still, on May 2, 2024 the new rule was challenged in the Eastern District of Texas.

We hit the highlights and the significant changes from the 2023 proposed rule in our Legal Update available here.