As part of our commitment to ensuring that our clients are kept up to date on the changes to applicable laws, the Department of Labor (DOL) has released additional guidance regarding the Fiduciary Rule. In our recent blog post, we discussed the applicability date of the Fiduciary Rule being delayed from April 10th to June 9th. The DOL has released guidance that the Fiduciary Rule is expected to be put in place on June 9, 2017, as expected, with full implementation on January 1, 2018. The latest guidance also indicates that advisers relying on the Best Interest Contract Exemption (BIC Exemption) need only act using impartial conduct standards from June 9, 2017 to January 1, 2018. When fully implemented, the BIC Exemption will require advisers to adhere to impartial conduct standards and provide a variety of disclosures to participants. So, while many service providers are providing fiduciary advice to plan participants and are in different stages of rolling out the required disclosures—there may be some service providers providing fiduciary advice to participants without providing the full disclosures. Therefore, fiduciaries need to be aware that during this transitional period, between June 9th and January 1st, that a good faith effort is being made to ensure the participant’s best interest.
Should you have any questions about these requirements, please do not hesitate to contact us. For more information on this release, please click here to view the DOL’s FAQ document.
