(Washington)
Advisors should breath a sigh of relief today. Following the fiduciary rule’s resounding court defeat last week, the DOL has done what the industry has been hoping it would—accept the decision. Following the ruling, the DOL now says it will not enforce the fiduciary rule in any way. A DOL agency spokesman said clearly “Pending further review, the [Labor Department] will not be enforcing the 2016 fiduciary rule”. The DOL will also very likely not challenge the court’s ruling.

FINSUM: Given that this is an entirely new DOL versus the one that drafted the rule under Obama, their behavior makes total sense. The way is finally nearly cleared for a new rule.