Category: Fiduciary

Recent State Fiduciary and Best Interest Developments

To date, 27 states have adopted rules that follow the Suitability in Annuity Transactions Model Regulation issued by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). Recent additions reflected in the following State Fiduciary and Best Interest Development chart include: Hawaii, Maryland, Minnesota, North Carolina, South Carolina, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Also, the chart reflects the Robinhood Financial v. Galvin decision by a Massachusetts Superior Court Judge declaring the Massachusetts fiduciary duty rule unlawful as well as a proposed rule issued by the Nevada Commissioner of Insurance imposing new requirements for training producers in connection with the recommendation of annuities.

To view the updates, visit the Resource page.

Download the chart of all the states.

Rollover Recommendations – Do the SEC and DOL Requirements Align?

Key Takeaways

The SEC and the DOL have separately issued guidance on rollover recommendations – however, a close examination indicates that the guidance by both agencies is very similar. The SEC’s guidance for broker-dealers is in Regulation Best Interest and a recent Staff Bulletin on account recommendations. The DOL’s guidance about rollover recommendations came in the form of an expanded interpretation of fiduciary advice found in the Preamble to PTE 2020-02 and a set of Frequently Asked Questions. These pieces of guidance share the following three principles: (1) a best interest standard, (2) a process to support that best interest standard that requires consideration of relevant factors about the investor, the investor’s current retirement account and the recommended rollover account, and (3) documentation supporting the basis for the recommendation.

There are a few differences between the SEC and the DOL guidance that broker-dealers and their registered representatives should know about, including that the SEC rollover guidance is applicable to a much broader array of retirement plans and accounts, and also that the SEC guidance does not require a disclosure about the best interest reasons for the rollover recommendation as does the DOL under PTE 2020-02.

Continue reading “Rollover Recommendations – Do the SEC and DOL Requirements Align?”

What Broker-Dealers Need to Know About Correcting PTE 2020-02 Mistakes

Key Takeaways

The DOL expanded its interpretation of fiduciary advice in the Preamble to PTE 2020-02 and as a result, many more broker-dealers and their registered representatives (investment professionals) are fiduciaries for their recommendations to retirement investors, including rollover recommendations. Therefore, they will need the protection provided by PTE 2020-02. The PTE contains a number of conditions and if those conditions are not met, a prohibited transaction will result.

The good news is that the PTE provides a self-correction process. Unfortunately, some conditions of the self-correction process are difficult to interpret and additional DOL guidance is needed.

To avoid these challenges, broker-dealers should implement good processes and documentation to satisfy the PTE conditions and closely supervise their investment professionals to ensure that the processes are followed.

Continue reading “What Broker-Dealers Need to Know About Correcting PTE 2020-02 Mistakes”

Recent State Fiduciary and Best Interest Developments: New Mexico Becomes the 20th State to Adopt an NAIC Best Interest Model

Joining the growing number of states who are implementing the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ (NAIC) model regulation concerning suitability in annuity transactions, New Mexico has issued its best interest rule to become effective on October 1, 2022. The rule will require insurance producers to act in the best interest of a consumer when making a sale or recommendation of an annuity in New Mexico or to a resident of New Mexico and will obligate the insurer to establish and maintain a system to supervise recommendations to ensure compliance.

Continue reading “Recent State Fiduciary and Best Interest Developments: New Mexico Becomes the 20th State to Adopt an NAIC Best Interest Model”

Recent State Fiduciary and Best Interest Developments: Pennsylvania’s New Law; Nevada May be Next

Pennsylvania has adopted legislation implementing the model regulation concerning suitability in annuity transactions adopted by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). This brings to 19 the total number of states adopting the NAIC suitability model. Nevada may be the next state to watch. Nevada’s Securities Administrator has indicated that she is resuming work on the state’s fiduciary rule for investment advisers and broker-dealers and expects to release the rule by November. Stay tuned.

Continue reading “Recent State Fiduciary and Best Interest Developments: Pennsylvania’s New Law; Nevada May be Next”

PTE 2020-02 Compliance: Avoiding Five Common Mistakes

It may be a New Year, but 2022 is going to seem very familiar to Broker-Dealers (BD) and their Registered Representatives who advise retirement plans and IRAs: they are going to be spending a lot of time working to comply with new exemptions and new ERISA rules coming from the Department of Labor (DOL). As some of these deadlines are right around the corner, in this post we’re going to review the five most common pitfalls and problems we’ve seen clients face, and how to better address them in disclosures and policies and procedures.

So what’s ahead this year regarding fiduciary advice and exemptions? First, DOL is working on a new proposed definition of ERISA fiduciary investment advice to replace the 1975 regulation, and could publish the new proposal for comments this spring. This proposal may also include changes to DOL’s new Prohibited Transaction Exemption 2020-02 (the PTE). If DOL succeeds in rewriting these rules, they likely will go into effect in 2023. That means the current rule and the current version of the PTE will likely remain in effect for the next 12-18 months.

Continue reading “PTE 2020-02 Compliance: Avoiding Five Common Mistakes”

SLOW Your Roll: DOL Temporarily Halts Enforcement of Compliance with PTE and ERISA Fiduciary Obligations for Rollover Advice

Benjamin Franklin once said “don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today.” While that is always prudent advice, the Department of Labor (DOL) believes it’s best to grant an extension to investment advisors and broker-dealers to comply with the full terms of the Prohibited Transaction Exemption 2020-02 (PTE 2020-02), beyond the current December 21, 2021, deadline. A previous blog post covered the scope of the PTE and provided guidance on compliance.

Continue reading “SLOW Your Roll: DOL Temporarily Halts Enforcement of Compliance with PTE and ERISA Fiduciary Obligations for Rollover Advice”

The New DOL Fiduciary “Rule” For Investment Advisers and Broker-Dealers and the December 20 Deadline: The Time to Act is Now

The DOL’s new fiduciary “rule” became effective on February 16, 2021. The rule is a combination of a new and expansive definition of fiduciary advice (and status) and an exemption from the prohibitions of ERISA and the Internal Revenue Code for financial conflicts of interest arising from nondiscretionary fiduciary advice. These changes impact all investment advisers and broker-dealers who provide services to retirement plans, participants and IRA owners.

This article summarizes the new guidance, the requirements currently in effect, and the demanding additional requirements that must be satisfied beginning on December 21, 2021. And, beginning on December 21, the full terms of Prohibited Transaction Exemption (PTE) 2020-02 will apply, including the acknowledgement of fiduciary status, the conflicts and services disclosures and, for the types of rollovers discussed below, the written statement of the “specific reasons” the rollover recommendation is in the best interest of the participant or IRA owner.

Continue reading “The New DOL Fiduciary “Rule” For Investment Advisers and Broker-Dealers and the December 20 Deadline: The Time to Act is Now”