DOL Adding 15 Days to Comment Period on Fiduciary Proposal

The Department of Labor is giving the financial services industry and consumer advocates more time to comment on its controversial fiduciary conflict-of-interest rule proposal.

The DOL is adding 15 days to the initial comment period of 75 days, set to begin after public hearings on Aug. 10. The rule proposal extends a fiduciary standard to brokers and advisors providing investment advice on retirement accounts.

Public comments on the rule proposal may even stretch beyond 140 days. "This is considerably longer than the typical comment period for the Employee Benefits Security Administration’s other proposed rulemakings," a department spokesman said. "The length of the extension takes into account the views of stakeholders who have asked the department not to alter its timeline for the comment period at all."

The extended comment period "will provide adequate time for the public to provide their input on this issue and for the administration to continue its dialogue with the stakeholder community," the spokesman added.

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