Senator Calls for Hearing on New DOL Fiduciary Rule

By Melanie Waddell

News July 14, 2020 at 04:48 PM

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Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., ranking member on the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, wants the Labor Department to hold a hearing on its new prohibited transaction exemption aligning with the Securities and Exchange Commission's Regulation Best Interest.

In a Tuesday letter, she asked Jeanne Klinefelter Wilson, acting head of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration, to hold public hearings as Labor did in 2015 when it was seeking feedback on the previous fiduciary rule that was vacated by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit.

Labor, Murray reminded Wilson, "held four days of public hearings featuring testimony from over 80 different stakeholders."

To ensure Labor "achieves its stated goal of 'promoting regulatory efficiencies,' it should consider a tripartite hearing that would also include the SEC to ensure that both agencies and all affected stakeholders are on the same page," Murray wrote. "These rules are too important to take shortcuts."

A public hearing, she continued, "is critical to a thorough understanding in light of the reliance on another federal agency's regulation, as well as the numerous proposals and changes the Department has made over the past month in delineating ERISA's fiduciary duties."

Murray also reiterated her previous request that Labor extend its 30-day comment period on the PTE by an additional 60 days "as the current comment period is inadequate to provide thoughtful analysis."

— Check out How DOL's New Fiduciary Rule Would Affect Rollover Advice on ThinkAdvisor.

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