Advocacy in action blog

Nine insurance trade associations filed a lawsuit today against the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to overturn a regulation limiting consumers' choice of financial professional and their access to retirement products that deliver protected lifetime income.

The American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI), National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA), NAIFA-Texas, NAIFA-Dallas, NAIFA-Fort Worth, NAIFA-POET, Finseca, Insured Retirement Institute (IRI), and National Association for Fixed Annuities (NAFA) issued the following comments on their challenge to the DOL's harmful intervention in the retirement savings marketplace and its one-size-fits-all fiduciary standard obligation on effectively every financial professional who sells retirement products:

NAIFA supports the newly introduced Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution disapproving the DOL’s final fiduciary-only rule that will negatively impact and impose new costs on middle- and low-income savers, as well as financial services professionals. CEO Kevin Mayeux, CAE, sent letters personally thanking Representative Rick Allen and Senators Roger Marshall, Joe Manchin, Ted Budd, and Bill Cassidy for introducing the resolution in the House and Senate, respectively. ACLI, NAIFA, Finseca, IRI and NAFA also issued a joint release supporting the CRA review.

A NAIFA Advocacy Webinar
May 2 | 2 pm eastern

The U.S. Department of Labor‘s final fiduciary-only rule will force the vast majority of financial professionals offering retirement planning services and products into a fee-for-service model, unless Congress or the courts intervene. It will deprive many consumers of the valuable option of working with professionals operating under alternative models, including those with commission-based compensation, that may better meet their needs.

The Department of Labor and the White House have released a final fiduciary-only rule after an astonishingly brief regulatory and review process and in spite of grave concerns expressed by NAIFA, members of Congress, and other stakeholders. Unless Congress or the courts intervene, the rule will force the vast majority of financial professionals offering retirement planning services and products into a fee-for-service model. It will deprive consumers of the valuable option of working with professionals operating under alternative models that may better meet their needs.

NAIFA continues efforts to discourage the Department of Labor and the administration from moving forward with its flawed fiduciary-only rule. In a letter to DOL Acting Secretary Julie A. Su, Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Shalanda Young, and Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (ORIA) Administrator Richard Revesz, NAIFA and 10 other groups detailed problems with the rule's regulatory process and asked the administration to "stand up for the integrity of the regulatory process and continue the public input process, rather than finalize the fiduciary rule now."

NAIFA is speaking out on behalf of financial professional and, particularly, the consumers who would be harmed by the Department of Labor's latest effort to reduce choices for Americans preparing for retirement. The fiduciary-only proposal, which is largely a rehash of a rule struck down by a federal appeals court in 2018, would radically change the financial services industry and reduce the ability of low- and middle-income retirement savers to access products and services.

The Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) current efforts to revive a fiduciary-only regulation for financial professionals is unnecessary and likely to harm low- and middle-income consumers by limiting their access to professional financial services, National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA) CEO Kevin Mayeux, CAE, told officials from the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) of the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

“By moving forward with the Proposed Rule, OIRA and DOL are ignoring … the real-world experience that NAIFA members saw first-hand before the 2016 Fiduciary Rule was vacated,” Mayeux said. “If finalized, the Proposed Rule will again force financial professionals to move away from brokerage services into a fee-for-service model that is tailored to higher-income clients. This model simply does not work when a year-round fiduciary duty is imposed.”

NAIFA CEO Kevin Mayeux, CAE, issued the following statement in response to the U.S. Department of Labor’s decision to advance its proposed “Retirement Security Rule” for review by the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

When it comes to preparing for retirement, having choices matters. Congress, in recent years, has passed landmark legislation encouraging Americans to invest in their futures and save for retirement while giving them greater flexibility and more planning options. Now more than ever Americans need retirement planning assistance.

American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI) President and CEO Susan Neely and NAIFA-Vermont President Tyler Wood issued the following joint statement on the best interest annuity rule adopted recently by the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation:

“A new rule adopted by the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation, led by Commissioner Kevin Gaffney, provides stronger protections to consumers seeking lifetime income through annuities. The rule enhances the standards financial professionals must follow and protects consumers' access to, and information about, annuities, the only financial product in the marketplace that can provide guaranteed income for life.