Department of Labor Issues Sweeping Fiduciary Rule Proposal

On April 14, 2015, the Department of Labor (DOL) released a proposal to re-define who is rendered a “fiduciary” of an employee benefit plan under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) by providing investment advice to a plan or its participants or beneficiaries. In a press release, Labor Secretary Thomas Perez described the sweeping proposal as follows: “This boils down to a very simple concept: if someone is paid to give you retirement investment advice, that person should be working in your best interest.” Yet, the more than 120-page proposed rule is far from simple. Its requirements and impact on access to advice about retirement savings accounts are far from certain.