Advocacy in action blog

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas has granted a request by NAIFA, ACLI, several NAIFA chapters, and other advocacy partners to stay the Department of Labor's fiduciary-only rule, stating that our case is "virtually certain to succeed on the merits." The action follows a similar stay issued Thursday by a different federal court in a similar case.

On July 25, 2024, a federal court in the Eastern District of Texas issued a stay barring the enforcement of the DOL fiduciary-only rule (and amendments to PTE 84-24) while the case in FACC v. DOL is pending. An appeal of the stay to the 5th Circuit is likely.  

Meanwhile, NAIFA’s challenge to the fiduciary-only rule, brought with ACLI and other industry groups, is under review in the Northern District of Texas, where we seek a preliminary injunction and stay against enforcement of the fiduciary-only rule and amendments to PTE 84-24 and 2020-02.

Washington, D.C.—The American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI), National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA), Finseca, Insured Retirement Institute (IRI) and National Association for Fixed Annuities (NAFA) issued the following statement on legislation passed by the U.S. House Appropriations Committee and the Education and the Workforce Committee to protect retirement savers from the Labor Department’s fiduciary-only regulation:
 
“The actions taken by the U.S. House Appropriations Committee and the Education and the Workforce Committee send a clear message that the Labor Department’s fiduciary-only regulation does not align with Congress’s efforts to expand retirement security for all Americans through the increased availability of lifetime income options. 
 
“In 2019 and 2022, Congress reaffirmed the importance of lifetime income when it passed legislation making it easier for employers to include annuities in workplace retirement plans. The fiduciary-only regulation is at odds with this progress. It restricts consumer access to professional financial guidance and options for protected lifetime income that annuities offer.

Washington, D.C.—The American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI), National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA), Finseca, Insured Retirement Institute (IRI) and National Association for Fixed Annuities (NAFA) issued the following statement on legislation advanced today by the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, HHS, Education, and Related Agencies that would block funding for the Labor Department’s fiduciary-only regulation:

An ongoing survey of NAIFA members will provide updated data to help NAIFA and our industry partners in future actions on the Department of Labor’s final fiduciary-only rule. The results will help us educate policymakers – and potentially the courts – on how the proposal will impact consumers and your business.

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.

NAIFA CEO Kevin Mayeux, CAE, told the Biden Administration in a meeting that 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.

NAIFA has not been sitting idle as the Department of Labor made moves to propose a new fiduciary rule. In anticipation of the rulemaking, NAIFA helped the National Conference of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL) draft a resolution that opposes the DOL's new fiduciary rule as unnecessary and likely harmful to consumers. The resolution, which NCOIL adopted in July after NAIFA testified at the Conference's 2023 Summer Meeting, states: "NCOIL urges the DOL to refrain from further rulemaking that would revive all or parts of the 2016 Fiduciary Rule" and "...urges state legislators and other interested stakeholders to join in opposition to any further rulemaking by DOL reviving the 2016 Fiduciary Rule."

This afternoon, the National Conference of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL) adopted a NAIFA-backed resolution that opposes potential fiduciary rulemaking by the Department of Labor (DOL). 

NAIFA's New Jersey chapter (NAIFA-NJ) has been hard at work on the advocacy front and has recent wins to show for its efforts.