DOL Fiduciary Rule to Revamp Regulation of Advice to Plans and IRAs


Reproposal would broaden the fiduciary definition, narrow exceptions, and substantially revise prohibited transaction exemptions applicable to current and newly covered fiduciaries.

The US Department of Labor (DOL) yesterday released its proposed rule “Definition of the Term ‘Fiduciary’; Conflict of Interest Rule—Investment Advice,” which replaces its 2010 proposal. The proposal would change the definition of an investment advice fiduciary for the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) standards of fiduciary conduct and the prohibited transaction rules under ERISA and section 4975 of the Internal Revenue Code (the Code). The proposal’s publication comes approximately 50 days after the Office of Management and Budget received the proposal for review on February 23. If adopted as proposed, we believe that the rule will profoundly affect how members of the financial services industry provide services to plans and Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs).

The proposal includes a revised and broader definition of activities that would result in fiduciary status, a series of limited exceptions to fiduciary status, a package of new prohibited transaction exemptions, amendments to current exemptions for existing and newly covered fiduciaries (as well as nonfiduciaries), and a new regulatory impact analysis. The structure of the proposal is as follows:

8. PTE 86-128 (Affiliated Brokers)

Conforming changes would be made in the following exemptions:

1. PTE 75-1, Part I (Agency Transactions)

2. PTE 75-1, Part II (Mutual Fund Transactions)

The DOL is also considering, and has requested comments on, whether the final exemptions should include a “new ‘low-fee exemption’ that would allow firms to accept payments that would otherwise be deemed ‘conflicted’ when recommending the lowest-fee products in a given product class, with even fewer requirements than the best interest contract exemption.”

The initial deadline for comments on the reproposal is expected to be on or about July 1 (or 75 days after the proposed rule is published in the Federal Register). According to the DOL, a public hearing will be scheduled shortly after the close of the initial public comment period, and then the public record will be reopened for additional comments after the public hearing. The DOL has also indicated that any final rule “would be effective 60 daysafter publication in the Federal Register and the requirements of the final rule would generally become applicable eight months after publication of a final rule,” subject to certain exceptions.

Because of the breadth and complexity of these proposed changes and the numerous ways in which they may affect how services are provided to ERISA plans and IRAs, we plan to issue a series of LawFlashes on the proposed regulation and exemptions that will provide a more detailed analysis of the proposal and its potential effects.

Read our past publications covering the DOL’s fiduciary definition rulemaking:


Copyright © 2025 by Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP. All Rights Reserved.
National Law Review, Volume V, Number 105