(Washington)

Earlier this month the DOL took a major step. On June 11th, as part of its annual regulatory agenda, the DOL announced that it would be broadening the scope of its fiduciary rule. In particular, the DOL is planning to broaden the ERISA definition of who counts as a fiduciary under the rule, which would mean more advisors are covered. According to leading industry lawyer Josh Lichtenstein, “There are a lot of career people at the DOL still working there and it's not clear to me that their views would have necessarily changed just because of the 5th Circuit's action … So I am expecting to see a pretty fulsome rewrite of the definition of who is a fiduciary”.

FINSUM: That is a pretty substantial comment from Mr. Lichtenstein, and not one most advisors want to hear. Stay tuned.