The Department of Labor’s “Fiduciary Rule”, PTE 2020-02 (Part 11): The Requirement that Investment Advisers and Broker-Dealers Mitigate Conflicts -
On February 16, 2021, the DOL’s prohibited transaction exemption (PTE)...more
On February 16, 2021, the DOL’s prohibited transaction exemption (PTE) 2020-02 became effective. The PTE is titled “Improving Investment Advice for Workers & Retirees.” It allows investment advisers, broker-dealers, banks,...more
4/14/2021
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Burden of Proof ,
Business Conduct Standards ,
Compliance ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Financial Institutions ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Insurance Industry ,
Investment Adviser ,
IRS ,
Retirement Plan ,
Standard of Care
The Department of Labor’s Prohibited Transaction Exemption and Its Impact on Recommendations to Plans, Participants and IRAs (Part 9) -
On February 16, 2021, the DOL’s prohibited transaction exemption (PTE) 2020-02 became...more
4/6/2021
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Best Interest Standard ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Institutions ,
Five-Part Test ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investors ,
IRS ,
PTEs ,
Retirement Plan ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The Department of Labor’s Prohibited Transaction Exemption and Its Impact on Recommendations to Plans, Participants and IRAs (Part 8) -
On February 16, 2021, the DOL’s prohibited transaction exemption (PTE) 2020-02 became...more
3/30/2021
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
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 ,
Investors ,
Plan Participants ,
Principal Transaction Exemption ,
Retirement Plan ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The Department of Labor’s Prohibited Transaction Exemption and Its Impact on Recommendations to Plans, Participants and IRAs (Part 7) -
On February 16, 2021, the DOL’s prohibited transaction exemption (PTE) 2020-02 became...more
3/23/2021
/ Best Interest Standard ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Investment Adviser ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
PTEs ,
Regulation Best Interest ,
Retirement Plan ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The Department of Labor (DOL) confirmed on February 12 that the Trump-era Prohibited Transaction Exemption 2020-02 (PTE) would go into effect as scheduled on February 16, 2021. The PTE will likely affect the business of...more
3/23/2021
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Compliance ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Exemptions ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Investment Adviser ,
IRA Rollovers ,
New Guidance ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
PTEs ,
Regulation Best Interest ,
Retirement Plan ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The Department of Labor’s Prohibited Transaction Exemption and Its Impact on Recommendations to Plans, Participants and IRAs (Part 6) -
On February 16, 2021, the DOL’s prohibited transaction exemption (PTE) 2020-02 became...more
3/17/2021
/ 401k ,
Best Interest Standard ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Investment Adviser ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Regulation Best Interest ,
Retirement Plan ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
On December 18, 2020, the DOL issued its final prohibited transaction exemption (PTE) that permits investment advisers, broker-dealers, banks and insurance companies, and their representatives, to receive conflicted...more
3/10/2021
/ Banks ,
Best Interest Standard ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Exemptions ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Institutions ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Insurance Industry ,
Investment Adviser ,
IRA Rollovers ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
On January 8, 2021, without admitting or denying the findings, VALIC Financial Advisors, Inc., (VALIC) entered into a settlement with FINRA Enforcement, through an Acceptance, Waiver and Consent (AWC) where the factual...more
On December 18, 2020, the DOL issued its final prohibited transaction exemption (PTE) that will allow conflicted compensation resulting from nondiscretionary fiduciary investment advice. The PTE is titled “Improving...more
Late last year, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard E. Neal (D-MA) and Ranking Member Kevin Brady (R-TX) introduced the Securing a Strong Retirement Act of 2020 (SECURE 2.0), a bipartisan legislative proposal that...more
The Department of Labor’s Proposed Prohibited Transaction Exemption and Its Impact on Recommendations to Plans, Participants and IRAs (Part 3): Investment Adviser Considerations -
On December 18, 2020, the DOL issued its...more
1/27/2021
/ Best Interest Standard ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Exemptions ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Institutions ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Investment Adviser ,
IRA Rollovers ,
IRS ,
Plan Participants ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Regulation BI
Closing out 2020, the SEC’s Division of Examinations (OCIE) issued a Statement on Recent and Upcoming Regulation Best Interest Examinations. There the Division of Examinations announced its intention “to begin its next phase...more
On December 18, 2020, the Department of Labor published its expansion of the fiduciary interpretation and exemption for conflicted advice in the Federal Register. (Prohibited Transaction Exemption 2020-02, Improving...more
1/13/2021
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Retirement Plan ,
Rollover Equity ,
Title I
The Department of Labor’s Proposed Prohibited Transaction Exemption and its Impact on Recommendations to Plans, Participants and IRAs (Part 2) -
On July 7, 2020, the DOL issued a proposed prohibited transaction exemption...more
The Department of Labor (DOL) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are focusing on rollover recommendations and their impact on plan participants. The DOL has historically taken the position that a recommendation...more
11/19/2020
/ Best Interest Standard ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Investment Adviser ,
IRA Rollovers ,
Plan Participants ,
Regulation Best Interest ,
Rollover Equity ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) hosted a virtual roundtable in late October to discuss the Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI) and Form CRS. With a few months of observations from examinations since the June...more
The Department of Labor’s Proposed Prohibited Transaction Exemption and its Impact on Recommendations to Plans, Participants and IRAs (Part 1)
On July 7, 2020 the DOL issued a proposed prohibited transaction exemption...more
The SEC’s Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI) applies to recommendations by a broker-dealer to “retail customers.” As the term suggests, a retail customer is a “natural person” (or the legal representative of a natural person)...more
Broker-dealers and investment advisers are now governed by a best interest standard of care. Those standards are based largely on the same fiduciary principles that are incorporated into the ERISA prudent man standard. The...more
10/21/2020
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Compliance ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary-Standards ,
Financial Institutions ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Registered Investment Advisors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Standard of Conduct
Our recent blog post compared the SEC’s standard of conduct for broker-dealers under Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI) with the standard of conduct for registered investment advisers (RIAs) under the SEC’s Interpretation...more
10/21/2020
/ Broker-Dealer ,
Compliance ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary-Standards ,
Financial Institutions ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Registered Investment Advisors ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Standard of Conduct
On October 8, 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) released a joint statement by SEC Chairman Jay Clayton and the SEC’s directors of the Division of Investment Management and the Division of Trading and...more
Regulation Best Interest: Best Interest and Suitability—How They Differ (Part 5) -
Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI) imposes a “best interest” standard of care on broker-dealers for their recommendations of securities and...more
Regulation Best Interest: Best Interest and Suitability—How They Differ (Part 4) -
Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI) imposes a “best interest” standard of care on broker-dealers for their recommendations of securities and...more
Regulation Best Interest: Best Interest and Suitability—How They Differ (Part 3) -
Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI) imposes a “best interest” standard of care on broker-dealers for their recommendations of securities and...more
9/24/2020
/ Best Interest Standard ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Disclosure ,
Investment ,
Investment Adviser ,
IRA Rollovers ,
Mitigation ,
Regulation BI ,
Securities ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Suitability Requirements