Department of Labor’s Fiduciary Rule 4.0 proposal
November 09, 2023
Read our initial analysis of the DOL’s October 31 Fiduciary Rule proposal to again redefine ERISA fiduciary “investment advice” and to remake the complex of ERISA exemptions allowing conflicted advice. In our assessment, the proposal is not “more narrowly tailored” than the vacated 2016 rule.
- As in the 2016 rule, the DOL would assume the role of universal “standard of conduct” regulator for the financial services industries and dictate practices for their relationships with retirement plans and IRAs.
- As in the 2016 rule, any individualized investment interaction between a financial services professional and a “retirement investor” would in the main be treated as fiduciary advice.
- As in the 2016 rule, an “investment advice” fiduciary would be permitted to give “conflicted advice” only under a narrowed set of exemptions that impose onerous conditions and threaten a private right of action for IRA owners.
If you have any questions about this Legal Alert, please feel free to contact any of the attorneys listed or the Eversheds Sutherland attorney with whom you regularly work.
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Eric A. Arnold
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Washington, DC, United States
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Washington, DC, United States
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Of Counsel
New York, United States
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Senior Counsel
Washington, DC, United States
Adam B. Cohen
Executive Partner
Washington, DC, United States
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Partner
Atlanta, United States | New York, United States
Issa J. Hanna
Partner
New York, United States
Dodie C. Kent
Partner
New York, United States
Clifford E. Kirsch
Partner
New York, United States
Michael B. Koffler
Partner
New York, United States
Ben Marzouk
Partner
Washington, DC, United States
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