DOL sets date to propose new fiduciary rule

The Department of Labor will propose a new fiduciary rule in December, the opening salvo in what will likely prove to be another contentious battle to overhaul investment advice standards in retirement accounts.

Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta had previously indicated the agency would revive the fiduciary rule, an Obama-era measure that was overturned in court last year, but hadn’t supplied a time line. The DOL solidified its December goal in its spring regulatory agenda.

Mr. Acosta said the DOL is working with the Securities and Exchange Commission as the SEC completes its advice reform package. The new DOL rule likely would be contoured to the SEC’s final regulations, which are expected to be released by this summer.

The DOL has proposed a fiduciary rule twice in the past — the first time in 2010, before ultimately being withdrawn for revisions, and then again in 2015. The rule went into partial effect in June 2017, but was ultimately defeated by opponents in the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.