DoL

Some insiders at big brokerage firms encouraged the DoL to maintain progress. "That kept us going," Assistant Secretary of Labor Phyllis Borzi says.

“The SEC is notorious for blowing through rule-making deadlines—both congressionally mandated and self-imposed, such as this,” says Micah Hauptman, financial services counsel at the Consumer Federation of America.

The new rules were developed in consultation with the SEC, the Labor secretary adds.

There is little to fear from the final version of the Department of Labor's regulation, planners say in a new survey.

Now that the sharply contested rule is the law of the land, a senior agency official says the department looks to help with compliance, not find targets to sue.

The traditional grid that delivered handsome payouts for advisers will likely go away for all but the top performers.