Broker-dealers are hesitant to say much about yet another possible delay of the implementation of the Department of Labor fiduciary rule because of the continued uncertainty surrounding the issue.
In a court filing released on Wednesday in Minnesota, the DOL said it intended to ask for a delay until July 2019 in implementing the final parts of the rule, which requires broker-dealers who handle retirement plans to act in the best interests of the client. Much of the rule went into effect in June; however, regulations for exemptions were delayed until January 2018.
Several broker-dealers contacted Thursday declined to comment, did not return calls or merely said they were taking a wait-and-see attitude.
A spokesman for Ladenburg Thalmann & Co., the parent company for five broker-dealers including Securities America, says the firm is “going to continue to move forward to meet the January 1 deadline until we have a final rule from the DOL that confirms the full scope and duration of any delay.”
Ladenburg Thalmann will have the ability to meet the January 1 deadline if necessary or delay implementation until a new deadline is set, the spokesman says.
“Anybody who says they know what is going to happen is wrong,” says Marcia Wagner of the Wagner Law Group, which represents financial advisory firms. “The core of the law already is affective: the core issue being raising the bar so that retirement planners act in the best interest of the clients.”
But, she adds, a lot could change in an 18-month delay; the DOL, for instance, could broaden the exemptions and record-keeping requirements.
Edward Jones said in an e-mail, “We await the publication of the proposed delay. We will review it and consider commenting on it at that time."