Financial Planners Fight Spending Bill Rider That Kills DOL Rule

By Melanie Waddell

April 26, 2017 at 03:50 AM

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The Financial Planning Coalition is fighting back against attempts by members of Congress to attach a rider to the government funding bill to torpedo the Department of Labor's fiduciary rule.

"We understand opponents of the fiduciary rule are aggressively advocating for a rider on the spending bill now under discussion that would prohibit DOL from implementing the fiduciary rule; this advocacy is based on the mistaken belief that an alternative to the fiduciary rule is needed," the Coalition wrote in their April 25 letter.

The coalition includes the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, the Financial Planning Association and the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors.

Any congressional action, the Coalition said, "would effectively kill the fiduciary rule, leaving American retirement savers unprotected from investment advice that is not in their best interest."

Congressional action "is unnecessary given the extraordinarily lengthy and transparent notice and comment process that has already occurred," the group adds.

Labor has delayed the fiduciary rule's implementation date to June 9.

"Many in the financial services industry have already begun implementation of the rule, as it benefits both American businesses and American consumers," the coalition told lawmakers. "Indeed, the Coalition brings a unique perspective to this discussion; its stakeholders and members have committed to provide financial planning services under a fiduciary standard of conduct. The Coalition believes that requiring advisors to work in the retirement investor's best interest is an essential and long overdue reform."

— Check out DOL Fiduciary Rule Hurts Now, Annuity Community Says on ThinkAdvisor.