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ARTICLE · 05 DECEMBER 2016

What's Next For The DOL's ‘Fiduciary' Rule?

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Under consideration for over 15 years, the rule's applicability date lands shortly after the Republicans gain control of both houses of Congress and the Presidency.

United StatesFinance and Banking
John Cannon, III
John Cannon, III
Doreen Lilienfeld
Doreen Lilienfeld
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Under consideration for over 15 years, the rule's applicability date lands shortly after the Republicans gain control of both houses of Congress and the Presidency. This short client alert outlines some of the options available to Congress and the President to limit the rule's impact. 

On April 6th of this year, the US Department of Labor ("DOL") issued its final "fiduciary" rule that for the first time since the passage of ERISA,1 subjects the investment and rollover recommendations made to retail retirement clients to ERISA's fiduciary standards.2 The rule starts applying to financial institutions and financial advisors on April 10, 2017.

The final rule has already had a major impact on the financial services industry. Broadly, the industry has sorted itself into two camps: those financial institutions that will no longer offer commission-based products to their retail retirement clients; and those who will rely on the DOL's so-called "best interest contract" or

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