Skip to main content
MENU
Subscribe
  • Login
  • My Account
  • Logout
  • Register For Free
  • Subscribe
  • Topics
    • Alternatives
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • CIOs
    • Consultants
    • Defined Contribution
    • ESG
    • Face to Face
    • Hedge Funds
    • Industry Voices
    • Investing
    • Money Management
    • Partner Content
    • Private Credit
    • Pension Funds
    • Private Equity
    • Real Estate
    • Regulation
    • Special Reports
    • Washington
    • White Papers
  • International
    • U.K.
    • Canada
    • Europe
    • Asia
    • Australia - New Zealand
    • Middle East
    • Latin America
    • Africa
  • Rankings & Awards
    • 1,000 Largest Retirement Plans
    • Top-Performing Managers
    • Largest Money Managers
    • DC Money Managers
    • DC Record Keepers
    • Largest Hedge Fund Managers
    • World's Largest Retirement Funds
    • Best Places to Work in Money Management
    • Excellence & Innovation Awards
    • WPS Innovation Awards
    • Influential Women in Institutional Investing 2024
    • Eddy Awards
  • Resource Guides
    • Active Thematic Global Equities
    • Retirement Income
    • Fixed Income
    • Pension Risk Transfer
    • Pooled Employer Plans (PEPs)
  • ETFs
    • Latest ETF News
    • Fund Screener
    • Education Center
    • Equities
    • Fixed Income
    • Commodities
    • Actively Managed
    • Alternatives
    • ESG Rated
  • ESG
    • Latest ESG News
    • The Institutional Investor’s Guide to ESG Investing
    • ESG Sustainability - Gaining Momentum
    • ESG Investing | Industry Brief
    • Innovation in ESG Investing
    • ESG Rated ETFs
    • Divestment Database
  • Defined Contribution
    • Latest DC News
    • The Plan Sponsor's Guide to Retirement Income
    • DC Money Manager Rankings
    • DC Record Keeper Rankings
    • Innovations in DC
    • DC Plan Design: Improving Participant Outcomes
  • Searches & Hires
    • Latest Searches & Hires News
    • Searches & Hires Database
    • RFPs
  • Research Center
    • The P&I Research Center
    • Earnings Tracker
    • Endowment Returns Tracker
    • Corporate Pension Contribution Tracker
    • Pension Fund Returns Tracker
    • Pension Risk Transfer Database
  • Careers
  • Events
    • View All Conferences
    • View All Webinars
  • Print
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. WASHINGTON
October 23, 2023 03:30 PM

DOL's Ali Khawar says new fiduciary rule proposal to come 'very soon'

Courtney Degen
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    Khawar_DC_West_i.jpg

    The Labor Department plans to issue a new proposal on fiduciary investment advice "very soon," said Ali Khawar, principal deputy assistant secretary for the DOL's Employee Benefits Security Administration.

    The new fiduciary proposal is "a very important priority" that the department has been working on for a long time, Khawar said in a discussion with Nikki Pirrello, publisher and president of Pensions & Investments, during P&I's Defined Contribution West Conference on Oct. 23 in San Diego. While Khawar joked that the definition of "very soon" could mean as early as today or one year from now, Lisa M. Gomez, assistant secretary for employee benefits security, also said last week to expect the proposal "very soon."

    Related Article
    DOL looking to reduce conflicts of interest in latest fiduciary proposal, Su says

    The DOL submitted its proposal for review to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs within the White House's Office of Management and Budget on Sept. 8; the review process can take up to 90 days but is unlikely to take that long.

    Gomez said Oct. 16 that the new rule will not be a "regurgitation of the old rule," and it will be referred to as the "retirement security rule" instead of the "fiduciary rule" to differentiate it from its predecessor.

    In 2016, under the Obama administration, the department finalized a rule known as the fiduciary rule that expanded the definition of a person or entity taking on fiduciary responsibilities and replaced a five-part test previously used to determine whether an investment professional or financial institution serves as a fiduciary.

    However, in 2018, a three-judge panel at the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans vacated the rule in a 2-1 decision, ruling that the department exceeded its legal authority.

    At the conference, Khawar admitted "there is a bit of a patchwork right now" for the regulatory framework governing fiduciary investment advice. For example, the SEC's rule package, known as Regulation Best Interest, does not explicitly include advice for plan sponsors, he said.

    The Regulation Best Interest package took effect in 2020 and aims to address the obligations of broker-dealers and investment advisers when they provide recommendations or investment advice to retail investors, including rollover recommendations.

    "There we have a nuance that can't be addressed by the existing framework," Khawar said. "And so, those are the kinds of questions that are on the forefront of our minds."

    SECURE 2.0

    Separately, the department is working to implement various aspects of SECURE 2.0, the retirement security package that passed Congress in December, Khawar said.

    One of SECURE 2.0's nearly 100 provisions codifies the auto-portability process so that an employee's 401(k) plan can be automatically rolled over to their new employer after changing jobs.

    "We know that this is a pretty significant problem in the system," and the Labor Department plans to issue a rule-making in order to set that provision into motion, Khawar said.

    "We're not going to have a final rule out in the next two months, but we do intend to try and have a proposal out to give people some sense of how we think about these issues," he said.

    Khawar added that SECURE 2.0's emergency savings provisions are something "people really should be prioritizing," because they could help increase retirement savings for a large swath of the population.

    SECURE 2.0 includes a few provisions aimed at allowing participants to have access to rain-day funds in case of economic uncertainty, including offering emergency savings accounts as part of employer retirement plans.

    Related Articles
    DOL's fiduciary proposal will focus on rollovers, face legal hurdles, attorney says
    DOL submits latest fiduciary rule for White House review
    Recommended for You
    Mikie Sherrill speaks during an interview.
    House Democrat introduces bill ensuring DOGE cuts don’t impact Social Security, other benefits
    U.S. Capitol building in Washington with trees in the foreground.
    Bipartisan bill reintroduced to extend accredited investor status based on knowledge, experience
    CFTC logo on the side of a brick building next to a glass entrance.
    CFTC commissioner to become Blockchain Association CEO
    Sponsored
    White Papers
    The State of Lifetime Income Report
    The Next Wave of LDI Evolution
    Retirement security to future income wins, TIAA brings you the latest financial…
    U.S. Public Funds Top Performers: Q2 2024
    Generative AI Investing: Opportunities at a Key Tech Inflection Point
    Research for Institutional Money Management: Advancing Physical Risk Modelling,…
    View More
    Sponsored Content
    Partner Content
    The Industrialization of ESG Investment
    For institutional investors, ETFs can make meeting liquidity needs easier
    Gold: the most effective commodity investment
    2021 Investment Outlook | Investing Beyond the Pandemic: A Reset for Portfolios
    Ten ways retirement plan professionals add value to plan sponsors
    Gold: an efficient hedge
    View More
    E-MAIL NEWSLETTERS

    Sign up and get the best of News delivered straight to your email inbox, free of charge. Choose your news – we will deliver.

    Subscribe Today
    October 23, 2023 page one

    Get access to the news, research and analysis of events affecting the retirement and institutional money management businesses from a worldwide network of reporters and editors.

    Subscribe
    Connect With Us
    • RSS
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn

    Our Mission

    To consistently deliver news, research and analysis to the executives who manage the flow of funds in the institutional investment market.

    About Us

    Main Office
    685 Third Avenue
    Tenth Floor
    New York, NY 10017-4036

    Chicago Office
    130 E. Randolph St.
    Suite 3200
    Chicago, IL 60601

    Contact Us

    Careers at Crain

    About Pensions & Investments

     

    Advertising
    • Media Kit
    • P&I Custom Content
    • P&I Careers | Post a Job
    • Reprints & Permissions
    Resources
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • FAQ
    • P&I Research Center
    • Site map
    • Staff Directory
    Legal
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Request
    Pensions & Investments
    Copyright © 1996-2025. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • Topics
      • Alternatives
      • Artificial Intelligence
      • CIOs
      • Consultants
      • Defined Contribution
      • ESG
      • Face to Face
      • Hedge Funds
      • Industry Voices
      • Investing
      • Money Management
      • Partner Content
      • Private Credit
      • Pension Funds
      • Private Equity
      • Real Estate
      • Regulation
      • Special Reports
      • Washington
      • White Papers
    • International
      • U.K.
      • Canada
      • Europe
      • Asia
      • Australia - New Zealand
      • Middle East
      • Latin America
      • Africa
    • Rankings & Awards
      • 1,000 Largest Retirement Plans
      • Top-Performing Managers
      • Largest Money Managers
      • DC Money Managers
      • DC Record Keepers
      • Largest Hedge Fund Managers
      • World's Largest Retirement Funds
      • Best Places to Work in Money Management
      • Excellence & Innovation Awards
      • WPS Innovation Awards
      • Influential Women in Institutional Investing 2024
      • Eddy Awards
    • Resource Guides
      • Active Thematic Global Equities
      • Retirement Income
      • Fixed Income
      • Pension Risk Transfer
      • Pooled Employer Plans (PEPs)
    • ETFs
      • Latest ETF News
      • Fund Screener
      • Education Center
      • Equities
      • Fixed Income
      • Commodities
      • Actively Managed
      • Alternatives
      • ESG Rated
    • ESG
      • Latest ESG News
      • The Institutional Investor’s Guide to ESG Investing
      • ESG Sustainability - Gaining Momentum
      • ESG Investing | Industry Brief
      • Innovation in ESG Investing
      • ESG Rated ETFs
      • Divestment Database
    • Defined Contribution
      • Latest DC News
      • The Plan Sponsor's Guide to Retirement Income
      • DC Money Manager Rankings
      • DC Record Keeper Rankings
      • Innovations in DC
      • DC Plan Design: Improving Participant Outcomes
    • Searches & Hires
      • Latest Searches & Hires News
      • Searches & Hires Database
      • RFPs
    • Research Center
      • The P&I Research Center
      • Earnings Tracker
      • Endowment Returns Tracker
      • Corporate Pension Contribution Tracker
      • Pension Fund Returns Tracker
      • Pension Risk Transfer Database
    • Careers
    • Events
      • View All Conferences
      • View All Webinars
    • Print