FSI to Labor Dept.: We'll send IRA info ASAP

The Labor Department still wants reams of information from the Financial Services Institute Inc. on individual retirement accounts, but the agency has given the group a little slack in turning in the data. The FSI, an advocacy group for independent broker-dealers, late last week met with Labor Department officials to discuss the Dec. 15 letter the DOL sent to it and other industry groups, including the American Council of Life Insurers and the Insured Retirement Institute. The DOL gave the groups 30 days to submit data covering IRA investment fees and performance over a decade, as well as compensation agreements for firms and registered representatives. The data will be used in an analysis performed by the DOL and the Employee Benefits Securities Administration to assess the impact of an upcoming reproposal of a rule that would broaden the fiduciary duty. The FSI met with the DOL on Friday to get more details on the data request. In the end, the FSI still needs to turn in the information, but it has promised to give the DOL the data “as quickly as possible,” said FSI spokesman Chris Paulitz. He added that the Labor Department will also accept whatever information the FSI can obtain from its member firms in order to meet the agency's requests. RELATED ITEM Worst states for retirement » While at the meeting, the FSI continued to push its concerns regarding the DOL's plan to reintroduce the rule about the definition of “fiduciary.” “We look forward to the department sharing their evidence of problems prompting this pending rule, hopefully dispelling the conventional wisdom that it's a solution in search of a problem,” said David Bellaire, the FSI's general counsel. "Some commenters on EBSA's October 2010 proposed rule suggested that we had not adequately demonstrated or quantified the harm that can arise when investment advisors' interests conflict with those of the IRA owners they advise," acknowledged DOL spokesman Michael Trupo. "EBSA is responding by examining a wide array of evidence on this question, and will offer this evidence in connection with the forthcoming proposal."