On April 6, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued its long-awaited final conflict of interest rule defining the term “fiduciary” for retirement investment advice purposes. The final regulations and accompanying exemptions are contained in approximately one thousand pages of guidance. While subjecting a myriad of new financial market participants to strict fiduciary requirements under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), the final rule also provides greater latitude than was initially predicted in what constitutes “investment advice.” In connection with the final rule, the DOL also released related exemptions from certain transactions prohibited under ERISA.

The DOL first proposed changes to the fiduciary rule in 2010 but withdrew the proposal in 2011 in the face of strong opposition from members of both parties of Congress and the financial services industry. The DOL subsequently reproposed the fiduciary rule last April. Following the release of the reproposed rule, the DOL conducted two comment periods, which generated thousands of letters, and held four days of hearings in August 2015.