(Washington)
Democrats are pushing for more time with the new DOL rule. The party says that the 30-day comment period on the new DOL rule is insufficient for public comment. They argue that since the new rule is 123 pages itself and relies on thorough knowledge of the SEC’s 770-page Reg BI, 30 days is simply not enough time to fully digest and comment on the rule. In their words, “As the Obama Administration twice respected the requests of those who asked that the fiduciary rule comment periods be extended, we call on this Administration to do the same. At a minimum, we request the DOL provide an additional 60 days so as to give the public a more appropriate amount of time to consider the impact of such a significant proposal and better align this comment period with past precedents.”
FINSUM: Two industry perspectives here. On the one hand, going slow is not necessarily bad—who wants new regulations sooner? On the other, getting the rule done before Trump may leave office would be more beneficial to the industry than a new version that a new Democratic administration might propose.