DOL Extends Comment Period On Fiduciary Proposal

WASHINGTON— The Department of Labor (DOL) extended the comment period on its fiduciary standard proposal by 15 days.

The announcement of the extension, as well as the dates of public hearings, will be published next week in the Federal Register, the DOL said.

The public hearings will take place during the week of Aug. 10, the DOL said. A DOL spokesman also said that after the public hearing, another comment period will begin about two weeks after the hearing transcript is released. In total, that will mean there will be 140 days of comment on the proposal.

The Financial Services Roundtable (FSR), which has taken the lead among financial services trades group in pushing against the proposal, urged the DOL to further consider granting a full extension to its comment period that would simply move the comment letter deadline from July 4 to the middle of August.

Francis Creighton, FSR executive vice president of government relations, said the extra time is needed because the proposed new regulatory framework will require broad changes in policies, practices and computer systems.

“The industry also needs time to assess any potential conflicts the proposal might have with other federal and state laws, as well as industry rules and regulations that impact firms’ day-to-day business activities,” Creighton said.

The DOL said in a statement that the comment period, “is considerably longer than the typical comment period for the Employee Benefits Security Administration’s (EBSA) other proposed rulemakings.”

“The length of the extension takes into account the views of stakeholders who have asked the department not to alter its timeline for the comment period at all,” the DOL spokesman said.

InsuranceNewsNet Washington Bureau Chief Arthur D. Postal has covered regulatory and legislative issues for more than 30 years. He can be reached at arthur.postal@innfeedback.com.