Financial Planning Coalition: Department of Labor Proposed Fiduciary Rule Long Overdue, Provides Important Consumer Protections

The Financial Planning Coalition – comprising Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. (CFP Board), the Financial Planning Association® (FPA®) and the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) – issued the following statement in support of the Department of Labor’s (DOL) rule to amend the outdated definition of “fiduciary” under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA):

“Secretary Perez and the Department of Labor have developed a comprehensive, carefully constructed fiduciary rule that will secure critical protections for American retirement savers and preserve financial advisers’ flexibility and adaptability, regardless of business model. This proposal to update a 40 year-old rule is long overdue, especially given significant, historical changes to retirement planning, requiring Americans to be more responsible than ever for making complex retirement saving and financial decisions.

“While the Coalition partners believe there are areas in the proposed rule that can be clarified or modified to improve its application across business models – as the Coalition will outline in its comment letter – the DOL has made it clear that it wants input on particular ways to better operationalize the rule. The DOL clearly listened to many of the concerns articulated by firms, industry organizations and consumer and public interest organizations in response to 2010’s proposed fiduciary rule and the Coalition is confident it will do the same with the re-proposed rule.

“A secure retirement is an essential part of American life – often the result of years of hard work and saving. Any financial advice Americans receive related to their retirement savings should be squarely in their best interests. The DOL’s proposed fiduciary rule will significantly benefit and protect retirement savers, and should be allowed to proceed to full and open public evaluation and comment and then to implementation, without further delay or obstruction.”

About the Financial Planning Coalition