Fiduciary Rule Enforcement Delayed Until February

On Monday October 25th, the Department of Labor delayed implementation of an investment advice rule that was supposed to be set in December, which is now allowing the financial industry additional time before having to implement these new changes into their compliance routines. The new fiduciary rule for retirement accounts that was approved by the Trump administration last year will not be enforced until February 2022.  

This regulation will “impose a fiduciary duty on most rollovers from 401(k) plans to individual retirement accounts.” In regards to the recommendations made, advisers will need to document and disclose costs, benefits, and conflicts of interests. 

In a field assistance bulletin released Monday, the DOL said it would “extend from Dec. 20 until Jan. 31, 2022, a temporary enforcement policy that allows retirement account fiduciaries to receive prohibited transactions — such as commissions or revenue-sharing — as long as they follow impartial conduct standards, which include acting in a client’s best interest, charging a reasonable fee and not making misleading statements.”

Even though this fiduciary rule is set to start on February 1, 2022, the DOL will not enforce documentation and disclosures prior to June 30th. Obviously this change will require some adaptation, so the DOL understands that this implementation might take longer than expected for fiduciaries to respond and make changes. 

Why wait to work with a government mandated fiduciary when you can find one that already is operating in that capacity. Sherman Wealth is a fee only registered investment advisor that always acts in a fiduciary capacity. We will continue to follow any updates on this new fiduciary rule as new updates arise. If you have any questions for us, email us at info@shermanwealth.com.