The US Department of Labor has released its package of proposed changes to the regulation defining fiduciary advice and to the exemptions for conflicts and compensation for investment advice to plans, participants (including...more
11/8/2023
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Investment Adviser ,
IRA Rollovers ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
PTEs ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Retirement Plan
The US Department of Labor has released its package of proposed changes to the regulation defining fiduciary advice and to the exemptions for conflicts and compensation for investment advice to plans, participants (including...more
11/3/2023
/ Banks ,
Best Interest Standard ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Investment ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Management ,
Investment Trust Companies ,
IRA Rollovers ,
New Rules ,
PTEs ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Retirement Plan
UPDATE: On August 8, I posted this blog article in contemplation of the DOL sending a new fiduciary proposal package to the Office of Management & Budget (OMB) in the White House. One month later, to the day, the receipt of...more
9/26/2023
/ Annuities ,
Best Interest Standard ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Exemptions ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
IRA Rollovers ,
New Regulations ,
New Rules ,
OMB ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
PTEs ,
Regulatory Agenda
The DOL has not appealed the decision in the Florida Federal District Court that vacated its fiduciary “re-interpretation.” That re-interpretation, in effect, said that ongoing investment advice to a rollover IRA could be...more
8/8/2023
/ Annuities ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Best Interest Contract Exemptions ,
Best Interest Standard ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
OMB ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
PTEs ,
Retirement Plan
The President signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, which included SECURE Act 2.0, on December 29, 2022.
SECURE Act 2.0 has over 90 provisions, some major and some minor; some mandatory and some optional; some...more
Let’s take a break from my SECURE 2.0 series of articles to discuss what is going on with the DOL’s fiduciary rule.
As background, in the preamble to Prohibited Transaction Exemption (PTE) 2020-02, the DOL re-interpreted...more
The Department of Labor (the DOL) expanded its interpretation of fiduciary advice in its guidance issued in connection with Prohibited Transaction Exemption (PTE) 2020-02. As a result, many more broker-dealers and registered...more
3/23/2023
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Florida ,
Investment Adviser ,
IRA Rollovers ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Registered Investment Advisors ,
Retirement Plan ,
State and Local Government
The current DOL fiduciary rule says that a broker-dealer and its registered representatives (advisors) are fiduciaries to a plan under ERISA if a functional 5-part test is satisfied. This same 5-part test applies to...more
2/22/2023
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Investment Adviser ,
IRA Rollovers ,
Proposed Amendments ,
Proposed Regulation ,
PTEs ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Retirement Plan
Registered investment advisers, including dual registrant broker-dealers (collectively “advisers”) who provide discretionary investment management services to individual retirement accounts (IRAs), are fiduciaries under the...more
1/17/2023
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Fees ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Management ,
IRS ,
Retirement Plan ,
Standard of Care
Now that 2022 is behind us, the final steps in compliance with PTE 2020-02 must be satisfied. Those steps are (i) conducting the annual retrospective review and the resulting report (within six months) and (ii) correcting any...more
There appear to be conflicting views of whether an investment adviser’s duty of care can be satisfied by disclosures that satisfy the duty of loyalty. That is, if an adviser discloses the receipt of additional compensation...more
9/27/2022
/ Best Interest Standard ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Duty of Loyalty ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Investment ,
Investment Adviser ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
PTEs ,
Retirement Plan ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Standard of Care ,
Standard of Conduct
The DOL’s expanded definition of fiduciary advice is explained in the preamble to PTE 2020-02.
When conflicted fiduciary advice is given to retirement investors, that is, retirement plans, participants (including...more
The DOL’s expanded definition of fiduciary advice is explained in the preamble to PTE 2020-02. When conflicted fiduciary advice is given to retirement investors (that is, retirement plans, participants (including rollovers),...more
8/9/2022
/ Best Interest Standard ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Institutions ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Investment Adviser ,
IRA Rollovers ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
PTEs
The DOL’s expanded definition of fiduciary advice is described in the preamble to PTE 2020-02. When conflicted fiduciary advice is given to retirement investors (that is, retirement plans, participants (including rollovers),...more
7/28/2022
/ Best Interest Standard ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Institutions ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Investment Adviser ,
IRA Rollovers ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Retirement Plan ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The DOL’s expanded interpretation of fiduciary advice is described in the preamble to Prohibited Transaction Exemption (PTE) 2020-02. The expanded interpretation applies to all rollover recommendations, including...more
7/12/2022
/ Best Interest Standard ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Institutions ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Investment Adviser ,
IRA Rollovers ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Retirement Plan
The DOL’s expanded interpretation of fiduciary advice is described in the preamble to Prohibited Transaction Exemption (PTE) 2020-02. When conflicted fiduciary advice is given to retirement investors (that is, retirement...more
7/6/2022
/ Best Interest Standard ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Institutions ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Investment Adviser ,
IRA Rollovers ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Retirement Plan
The DOL’s expanded definition of fiduciary advice is described in the preamble to PTE 2020-02.
When conflicted fiduciary advice is given to retirement investors (that is, retirement plans, participants (including...more
6/22/2022
/ Best Interest Standard ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Institutions ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Investment Adviser ,
IRA Rollovers ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Retirement Plan ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The DOL’s expanded definition of fiduciary advice is described in the preamble to PTE 2020-02. When conflicted fiduciary advice is given to retirement investors (that is, retirement plans, participants (including rollovers),...more
The DOL’s expanded definition of fiduciary advice is described in the preamble to PTE 2020-02. The PTE then provides relief for conflicted non-discretionary recommendations (for example, rollover recommendations), if its...more
5/25/2022
/ Best Interest Standard ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Institutions ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Investment Adviser ,
IRA Rollovers ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
PTEs ,
Regulation Best Interest ,
Retirement Plan ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The DOL’s expanded definition of fiduciary advice is described in the preamble to PTE 2020-02. The PTE then provides relief for conflicted non-discretionary recommendations (for example, rollover recommendations), if its...more
5/17/2022
/ Best Interest Standard ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Compensation ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Institutions ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Investment Adviser ,
IRA Rollovers ,
Plan Participants ,
Registered Investment Advisors ,
Retirement Plan ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The DOL has issued FAQs that generally explain PTE 2020-02 and the expanded definition of fiduciary advice, particularly for rollover recommendations. The DOL’s expanded definition of fiduciary advice was described in the...more
The DOL has issued FAQs that generally explain PTE 2020-02 and the expanded definition of fiduciary advice. The DOL’s expanded definition of fiduciary advice was described in the preamble to PTE 2020-02....more
The DOL has issued FAQs that generally explain PTE 2020-02 and the expanded definition of fiduciary advice.
The DOL’s expanded definition of fiduciary advice was described in the preamble to PTE 2020-02...more
3/14/2022
/ Best Interest Standard ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Institutions ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Investment ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Management ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
PTEs ,
Retirement Plan
This series focuses on the DOL’s new fiduciary “rule”, which was effective on February 16. This, and the next several, articles look at the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) issued by the DOL to explain the fiduciary...more
3/1/2022
/ Best Interest Standard ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Compliance ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Exemptions ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Management ,
IRS ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
PTEs ,
Regulation Best Interest
This series focuses on the DOL’s new fiduciary “rule”, which was effective on February 16. This, and the next several, articles look at the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) issued by the DOL to explain the fiduciary...more