BNY Mellon’s Pershing Issues Statement on the Department of Labor Rule Delay; Reaffirms Commitment to Supporting Clients Through Regulatory Uncertainty

PR Newswire

JERSEY CITY, N.J., April 6, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- In light of this week's announcement by the Department of Labor (DOL) to delay the Conflict of Interest Rule by 60 days, BNY Mellon's Pershing has issued the below statement:

"Preparations for the DOL Conflict of Interest Rule triggered a wide scale transformation in the industry, altering the competitive landscape.

New products and business models have been introduced in response to the Rule and have accelerated the adoption of the advisory model. Moving forward, it is clear that the fiduciary mindset is not only here to stay, but it is also expected to have profound impact on how investment advice is delivered.

This delay will drive firms to refocus efforts on meeting the DOL requirements for a Best Interest Standard of Care. Throughout this transition period and beyond, Pershing is committed to supporting its clients in their quest to remain competitive in a complex business environment.

We are moving forward with investing in solutions that will enable our clients to transform their business and operational models in a rapidly changing environment."

The following is a summary of solutions that BNY Mellon's Pershing continues to invest in to support client efforts to implement the Rule.

MANAGED INVESTMENTS

Pershing's managed investment solutions can aid financial professionals in navigating the Rule, allowing them to spend more time building relationships and less time performing administrative tasks. These solutions include:

WealthStart™: Lockwood's mutual fund and ETF offering provides clients with a diverse range of asset allocation strategies starting at $10,000 account minimums.

OPERATIONAL SUPPORT

Pershing's operational solutions provide firms with the tools they need to achieve greater transparency and efficiencies while enhancing the client experience. Some of these solutions include:

New Fiduciary Tools Menu incorporates our new rollover tool, along with tools from a select group of third-party vendors, to support the documentation of information or recommendations provided to retirement investors. Depending on vendor tool availability, document storage from the output of a tool may be saved on Pershing's NetX360^® platform for client document sharing and surveillance capabilities.
Subscribe, our annuity and insurance platform, streamlines how clients process, service and maintain fixed and variable annuities.
Retirement Plan Network offers an unbundled, open-architecture platform that connects retirement plan professionals, as well as the firms that work with them, to independent retirement plan recordkeepers, as well as a suite of investment products, retirement plan tools and practice management solutions.

PROHIBITED TRANSACTION EXEMPTION COMPLIANCE SOLUTIONS

Pershing has also built a robust suite of Prohibited Transaction Exemption (PTE) solutions to support clients' strategies to meet certain aspects of the Rule's requirements as currently outlined. These solutions include:

Best Interest Contract Exemption Compliance Solutions: This is a robust end-to-end suite of configurable exemption tools, which includes features and functions across three key areas:

1.     Account opening and maintenance
2.     Process controls and transaction rules
3.     Supervision and surveillance

Principal Trading Exemption: These solutions will allow clients to create surveillance processes for monitoring their principal business in retirement accounts.
PTE 84-24: Subscribe's enhanced order entry system will enable firms to generate disclosure during the order entry process.

For more information, please visit pershing.com/DOL.

About BNY Mellon's Pershing

BNY Mellon's Pershing and its affiliates provide advisors, broker-dealers, family offices, hedge fund and '40 Act fund managers, registered investment advisor firms and wealth managers with a broad suite of global financial business solutions. Many of the world's most sophisticated and successful financial services firms rely on Pershing for clearing and custody, investment and retirement solutions, technology, enterprise data management, trading services, prime brokerage and business consulting. Pershing helps clients improve profitability and drive growth, create capacity and efficiency, attract and retain talent, and manage risk and regulation. With a network of 23 offices worldwide, Pershing provides business-to-business solutions to clients representing more than 6 million investor accounts globally. Pershing LLC (member FINRA, NYSE, SIPC) is a BNY Mellon company. Additional information is available on pershing.com, or follow us on Twitter @Pershing.

About BNY Mellon

BNY Mellon is a global investments company dedicated to helping its clients manage and service their financial assets throughout the investment lifecycle. Whether providing financial services for institutions, corporations or individual investors, BNY Mellon delivers informed investment management and investment services in 35 countries and more than 100 markets. As of December 31, 2016, BNY Mellon had $29.9 trillion in assets under custody and/or administration, and $1.6 trillion in assets under management. BNY Mellon can act as a single point of contact for clients looking to create, trade, hold, manage, service, distribute or restructure investments. BNY Mellon is the corporate brand of The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation (NYSE: BK). Additional information is available on www.bnymellon.com. Follow us on Twitter @BNYMellon or visit our newsroom at www.bnymellon.com/newsroom for the latest company news.