Complaint Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas Fort Worth Division on DOL’s Fiduciary Rule
SIFMA and FSI filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas Worth Division on the Department of Labor’s new rule that again amends the fiduciary definition (“the 2024 Rule”) and is materially indistinguishable from the 2016 Rule. See 89 Fed. Reg. 32,122 (Apr. 25, 2024). If the 2024 Rule goes into effect, recommendations by a broker-dealer or other financial professional regarding assets in a retirement account, including sales recommendations, will once again be considered “fiduciary” advice even in the absence of an ongoing, mutually recognized advice relationship. Once again, transaction-based compensation in connection with such transactions will be presumptively unlawful. And once again, broker-dealers will be forced to choose between subjecting themselves to ERISA-based standards and the Department’s regulatory power or forgoing traditional compensation.
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