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OMB Holds Meetings on Fiduciary Rule

The Office of Management and Budget has scheduled a series of meetings with interested parties to discuss the Labor Department’s proposal to delay the implementation of the fiduciary regulation.

Less than two weeks ago the Labor Department’s Employee Benefit Security Administration (EBSA) sent documents to the Office of Management and Budget for approval.  While the details of the proposal are not yet public, the title of the filling as shown on the OMB’s website indicates it is a proposed regulation to delay the fiduciary regulation’s April 10 applicability date. Various reports have speculated that the delay will be for 180 days.

OMB just recently got a new director, former Rep. Mick Mulvaney (who was one of the speakers at the 2016 NAPA DC Fly-In Forum). This may help in speeding up the review process.

The scheduled meetings currently listed on the OMB site are:

02/22/2017 03:30 PM
Requestor: Siegel Public Affairs

02/22/2017 01:00 PM
Requestor: Better Markets

02/21/2017 02:00 PM
Requestor: AARP

02/17/2017 03:00 PM
Requestor: PIABA

02/17/2017 02:00 PM
Requestor: AFL-CIO

02/16/2017 02:00 PM
Requestor: Consumer Federation of America

02/15/2017 02:00 PM
Requestor: The Committee for the Fiduciary Standard

02/15/2017 01:00 PM
Requestor: Betterment

02/14/2017 03:00 PM
Requestor: Financial Planning Coalition

While some delay in the applicability date has been anticipated, there have been some false signs over the past several weeks. First came President Trump’s regulatory freeze pending review signing that some reported as delaying the fiduciary regulation. However, that applied only to regulations that had been finalized but had not taken effect – and the “effective” date of the fiduciary regulation was June 7, 2016. April 10, which is the date the industry has been focused on, is the applicability date.

As a reminder, even once the notice to delay is published, it will be in the form of a proposed regulation. As such, time for public comment must be provided before it can be issued an “official” final regulation. The DOL is also expected to seek comment on the points raised in President Trump’s memorandum to the Acting Secretary of Labor. That will likely be in a separate rulemaking project.

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