Status of the DOL Fiduciary Rule: Key Issues for Plan Sponsors and Service Providers

BARBRI

This CLE webinar will guide employee benefits counsel in understanding the practical implications for retirement plan sponsors, advisers, and other service providers of the U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) current regulations regarding investment advice fiduciaries for purposes of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) and Section 4975 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (Code). The panel will review the DOL’s latest attempt to change its regulation defining “investment advice,” the legal challenges it has faced, and the future of the regulation in light of such challenges and the results of the recent Presidential and Congressional elections. The panel will also explain what fiduciaries must do now with regard to ERISA and Code compliance.

Description

The DOL has made several attempts in recent years, including in 2024, to amend the regulation defining who is an investment advice fiduciary for purposes of ERISA and the Code. These efforts have faced strong opposition from key stakeholders as well as legal challenges, creating a level of uncertainty in determining fiduciary status. Additional uncertainty has been introduced as a result of the recent Presidential and Congressional elections. Benefits counsel must understand the potential impact of the DOL’s regulations and applicable prohibited transaction exemptions on retirement plan sponsors, advisers, and other service providers to advise their clients on compliance and implementation of best practices.

Listen as our panel discusses the history of the DOL’s attempt to amend the regulation defining “investment advice,” the legal challenges the 2024 final regulation, the Retirement Security Rule, has faced and the likelihood of the DOL’s regulatory efforts’ success in light of recent court decisions and elections. The panel will also address what plan fiduciaries should be doing now to comply with ERISA and the Code when a fiduciary provides “investment advice.”

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