Deputy Assistant Secretary Timothy Hauser was scheduled to participate but abruptly backed out late last week, after the Insured Retirement Institute joined a lawsuit seeking to vacate the rule.
The National Association for Fixed Annuities levies similar arguments to the initial suit, filed just one day earlier.
Although the Labor Department doesn't have enforcement authority over IRAs, it does have interpretive authority, observers say.
Advisers choosing models with the most support forgo up to 25% of profits.
Incidents of online thieves taking control of tax preparers' computers and client information are rising.
If a firm's transition to the Best Interest Contract Exemption is done using paper contracts and disclosure forms, it could be costly, difficult and risky to manage.
The fine relates to an ex-broker, Galen Marsh, who took data from hundreds of thousands of the wirehouse's clients, some of which ultimately ended up online.
The Labor Department's fiduciary rule and market volatility were the primary contributors.
Plus: Don't hold your breath waiting for normal interest rates, the minimum wage truth, and it takes some luck to become super rich
Earnings test complicates choice between retirement and survivor benefits.
A nine-member investment team will tweak portfolios in response to market conditions.
But investors continue to sit on the sidelines, still spooked by the tumble in real estate values during the financial crisis and failing to realize that prices have not only fully recovered.
Bipartisan legislation would make it possible for students to save funds from stipends or fellowships in an IRA.
Wrong vote in 2013 on Dell proxy costs shareholders.
Central bank policies showing signs of exhaustion, investment giant says.
Experts weigh plaintiffs' likely arguments versus Labor Department's legal standing and odds in court.
There are two different versions in the exemption, each with respective limitations and benefits that advisers and their institutions must master.
Deputy assistant secretary Tim Hauser said the Labor Department has room to adjust the rule if problems arise.
If the industry was really serious about getting rid of rogue brokers, it would do more both individually and through Finra.
