The DOL fiduciary rule has not gone into effect yet, but the U.S. Chamber of Commerce says there is already proof it is going to hurt small investors and the financial industry.

The Department of Labor, in ordering the rule to be implemented June 9, is overstepping its jurisdiction and its expertise, says the Chamber of Commerce in its report, The Data Is In: The DOL Fiduciary Rule Will Harm Small Retirement Savers.

The chamber calls the rule “a sweeping expansion of government authority that fundamentally disrupts the way in which Americans save for retirement.” It has filed suit against the DOL over the rule and is seeking broad changes.

“Throughout the rule-making process, the U.S. Chamber warned that the fiduciary rule was built upon a mountain of flawed data and analysis, and would harm the very people it was purported to protect by raising costs and limiting investment options,” the chamber says.

Other organizations, such as the Financial Planning Coalition and the Consumer Federation of America, have given their wholehearted support to the fiduciary rule.

The coalition, made up of the Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc., the Financial Planning Association and the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors, said the DOL rule is a first step to ensure that retirement savers have an enforceable standard that will require advisors to put their customers’ financial interests ahead of their own.

The Consumer Federation added that consumers expect and deserve the high standards that will be set by the fiduciary rule.

And betting against the rule has backfired for small independent broker-dealers.

For its report, the chamber compiled information from reports and comment letters from a variety of industry and consumer organizations that have been submitted to the DOL since February, when the implementation of the rule was pushed back to June 9. Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta said May 22 there was no reason to delay the rule further. The rule requires broker-dealers and dually registered advisors who handle retirement accounts to act in the best interests of clients, rather than adhering to a lesser “suitability” standard. Acosta has said the department will continue to review the rule in the coming months.

According to the reports compiled by the chamber, up to 7 million individual retirement account owners could lose access to investment advice as firms pull back from servicing small accounts because they feel forced to charge flat fees rather than commissions.

In fact, 91 percent of respondents in a recent survey by the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors said they already have experienced or expect to experience restrictions on product offerings to their clients. In addition, nearly 90 percent believe consumers will pay more for professional advice services, and 75 percent have seen or expect to see increases in minimum account balances for the clients they serve.

In another survey submitted to the DOL by insurance service providers, 70 percent of respondents already have or are considering exiting the market for small-balance IRAs and small plans, and half are preparing to raise minimum account requirements for IRAs.

Several surveys of advisors showed that an average of 71 percent will stop providing advice to at least some of their current small accounts given the risk and increased costs of the rule; 35 percent of advisors will stop serving accounts under $25,000, and 25 percent will raise their client minimum account thresholds.

In a comment from a large mutual fund provider, the provider said, “The number of orphaned accounts nearly doubled in the first three months of 2017, and the average account balance in these orphan accounts is just $21,000. Further, it projects that ultimately 16 percent of the accounts it services will be orphaned this year because of the fiduciary rule.”

Furthermore, the chamber says, 92 percent of firms have indicated their retirement plans could limit products for retirement investors, leaving 11 million households with fewer choices. Fees for investors could increase by 200 percent, costing investors $109 million over 10 years.

“Unfortunately for the millions of Americans who rely on the private savings market for their retirement, our concerns are coming true,” the Chamber of Commerce says. “The theoretical academic exercises underlying the rule are giving way to hard evidence, and the evidence is coming in showing that the rule is harming American investors. This new data, based on actual experience, demonstrates that the DOL’s original predictions were wrong.”

The chamber says it will continue to work “with the DOL, Congress and the Securities and Exchange Commission to develop an alternative and permanent solution that will restore the ability of Americans to save for a dignified retirement.”