Life groups are praising two Republican lawmakers' effort to replace the U.S. Department of Labor fiduciary rule regulations with a new, statutory sales and marketing standard.
The American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI) and the Insured Retirement Institute (IRI) have put out statements supporting H.R. 2823, the "Affordable Retirement Advice for Savers Act" bill.
H.R. 2823
H.R. 2823 was introduced by Rep. David Roe, R-Tenn., and Rep. Roskam, R-Peter Roskam, R-Ill.
The bill would repeal the DOL's fiduciary rule rulemaking. The bill would replace that rulemaking with new investment advice provisions in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986.
H.R. 2823 would require retirement investment advisors to give clients advice that is in the best interest of the clients. Sellers and providers of general information could, however, use disclaimers to avoid responsibility for providing anything officially classified as personalized investment advice.
Retirement plan service providers could use disclaimers to avoid assuming fiduciary responsibility for a retirement plan, if the plan is represented by an independent plan fiduciary that was separate from the service providers, and if the fiduciary acknowledges that the service provider has a financial interest in completing plan transactions.
The bill is a potential alternative to a DOL rule replacement discussion draft released by Rep. Ann Wagner, R-Mo. The ACLI is also supporting that proposal.
The Process
Roe and Roskam introduced the bill in June.
House leaders assigned jurisdiction to the House Education and the Workforce Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee.
The bill has 29 Republican cosponsors and no Democratic cosponsors.
