Get your popcorn ready—the Department of Labor today announced that its Employee Benefits Security Administrationhas published an agenda for its upcoming online hearing on the controversial fiduciary rule proposal that was released to the public on Oct. 31.
The online hearing For the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, “Retirement Security Rule: Definition of an Investment Advice Fiduciary,” and related proposed prohibited transaction exemption amendments will be held Dec. 12 and Dec. 13, starting each day at 9 a.m. EST.
In a statement released Dec. 7, the EBSA noted that if adopted as proposed, the rule would define who is an investment advice fiduciary under ERISA as a result of giving investment advice to retirement plan participants and individual retirement account owners, among others. EBSA says the proposed amendments to the prohibited transaction exemptionsseek to make the exemption conditions more uniform and to protect retirement investors’ savings.
The proposals seek to protect investors saving for retirement by requiring trusted advice providers to adhere to high standards of care and loyalty when making investment recommendations and to avoid recommendations that favor their financial interests at the expense of the investors.
In announcing the hearing back on Nov. 15, Assistant Secretary for Employee Benefits Security Lisa M. Gomez said it will “provide interested parties with a full opportunity to provide important public input that will inform the Department of Labor’s next steps in the rulemaking process for the proposal.”
Plenty of retirement industry representatives are anxious to share their concerns. American Retirement Association CEO Brian Graff will be among the first to get a chance. Graff will be on the first panel on the opening day of the hearings, scheduled for 9:15-10:15 a.m. EST on Dec. 13, right after Assistant Secretary of Labor Lisa Gomez delivers opening remarks. Graff will be joined on that first panel by Lynn Dudley of the American Benefits Council and Lisa Bleier of SIFMA.
ARA has already said that as an organization it is generally supportive of this proposition, expressing publicly and to EBSA its support for modernizing the definition of investment advice, particularly as it applies to such investment advice given to plan sponsors establishing and maintaining retirement savings plans for their employees.
“To that end, as an organization we look forward to carefully reviewing this comprehensive proposal and providing constructive comments both positive and those addressing concerns that we will almost certainly identify given the breadth of the regulation,” wrote ARA President-Elect Jeffrey Acheson and Graff in a post on the NAPA website on Nov. 7. But in that piece, titled “In Defense of Fixed Index Annuities,” ARA also took strong exception to the Biden Administration choosing to infer the suitability of that specific annuity product type was questionable and unfairly attacked it based on what appears to be an entirely misinformed premise.
Who’s testifying
Scheduled panelists for the two days of hearings–including Graff–read like a veritable “who’s who” among the retirement industry and consumer advocates. Some others among them:
• ACLI’s Susan Neely
• Consumer Federation of America’s Micah Hauptman
• NAIFA’s Bryon Holz and Charles Ross Sr.
• U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Shantel Sheaks
• Federation of Americans for Consumer Choice’s Kim O’Brien and Don Colleluori
• AARP’s David Certner
• Insured Retirement Institute’s Wayne Chopus and Jason Berkowitz
• Institute for the Fiduciary Standard’s Knut Rostad
• CFP Board of Standards’ Daniel Moisand
• NAFA’s Chuck DiVencenzo, Thomas Roberts and Pam Heinrich
• Financial Planning Association’s Patrick Mahoney
• Finseca’s Marc Cadin
• NAPFA’s Daphne Jordan
• Investment Company Institute’s Elena Barone Chism
• American Investment Council’s Michael Kreps and George Sepsakos
• Cetera Financial Group’s Mark Quinn
• Betterment’s Joshua Robin
• SPARK Institute’s Adam McMahon
To view the online hearing, registration is required, and individuals need to register separately for each day’s hearing. Register now for the Dec. 12 hearing and the Dec. 13 hearing.
Anyone needing technical support may contact zzEBSAITSupport@dol.gov. EBSA will have the meeting transcribed and its transcript published on the hearing webpage once available.
After the proposed rule was published in the Federal Register on Nov. 3, the 60-day comment period is set to expire on Jan. 2, 2024.
This despite a request from coalition of 18 financial industry trade groups saying a 60-day comment period is too brief for such a complicated rule, particularly given the holidays falling within the comment period. EBSA’s Gomez announced back on Nov. 15 that there would be no extension of the comment period.
SEE ALSO:
• DOL Fiduciary Rule Released; Industry Reaction Pours In
• House Passes Amendments Blocking DOL Fiduciary Rule
• Fiduciary Rule Comment Period Extension Request Denied