Regulatory relief

The Labor Department's own rule-making process may be presenting hurdles to completely rescinding the regulation.

One brokerage executive likens the situation to changing the rules of a football game after the teams are already on the field.

The Labor Department will now conduct a review with an eye toward amending or rescinding it.

Here's what an alternative approach to the Labor Department regulation could look like.

Postponement serves no purpose, because honest consideration will not change the regulation.

Big firms are asking for more time, while investors and even some advisers are asking the Labor Department to keep the rule intact.

With an eye toward potential repeal, Alexander Acosta told senators that he will abide by President Trump's executive memorandum and review the rule's impact.

The senator isn't waiting for attorney Jay Clayton's confirmation hearing to ramp up her opposition.

One planner says there's no reasonable basis for a delay, while another says he can't afford all the compliance costs.

Market forces have wrought changes that can't be repealed, according to champions of the rule.

The firm is one of the first to issue a formal comment letter on the Department of Labor's proposal to put off the regulation's implementation date.

"The number of enforcement cases is likely to be down considerably going forward," said Urska Velikonja, a law professor at Emory University.

Hope is dimming, but top Democrats like Sen. Elizabeth Warren and investor advocates are unlikely to relent in their efforts to preserve the regulation.

"To me, that rule, it was about one thing and it was about enabling trial lawyers to increase profits,” acting Chairman Michael Piwowar says.

The department says it needs time to complete a review of the regulation ordered by President Trump, who also recently outlined criteria for reversing the rule.

The move is additional fallout from the president's memo to the Department of Labor to review the regulation and possibly rescind it.

Here’s what the president’s actions mean for advisers and firms.

"My expectation is that a lot of firms are going to continue installing a best-interest standard, regardless," said Brian Graff, CEO of the American Retirement Association.

President Trump’s order sparked reactions all over his preferred social media platform.

While a review will be undertaken by the Labor Department, the White House signaled that the president was expecting significant change.