U.S. Senate passes resolution to block DOL’s fiduciary rule

Legal NewsLine discusses Congress's resolution of disapproval blocking the Department of Labor's fiduciary rule with John Berlau.

John Berlau, a financial policy expert at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, said the rule must be stopped, pointing to the “harm it would impose on hard-working families” saving for retirement.

“The rule restricts both choices and access to investment guidance for middle and lower-income savers,” Berlau explained. “As seen in the United Kingdom, barring brokers from receiving third-party commissions, which the fiduciary rule effectively does, resulted in a guidance gap where savers with less than $240,000 in assets could not get their accounts serviced by a broker or adviser.

“The fiduciary rule also underscores the Obama administration’s disregard for the law that Congress wrote and the competence of Americans to handle their money.”

According to CEI, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the states have defined the term “fiduciary” for decades.

Last month, CEI and other groups defending free markets and constitutional liberties sent a letter to members of Congress, urging lawmakers to back the resolution.

Read the full article at Legal NewsLine.