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Progress has been good, but pressure from the financial services industry to prevent implementation of the rule is ever-present.
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The Department of Labor published the proposed rule in the Federal Register on November 3, 2023. They received over 19,000 comments on the proposed Rule.
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They held two full days of hearings on the proposed rule on December 12 & 13, 2023. You can read the testimony, watch the hearings, and find the transcripts here.
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On March 8, 2024, the Department of Labor transmitted the rule to the Office of Management and Budget for regulatory review.
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On April 23, 2024, the Department of Labor published the final rule.
Meanwhile, the financial industry is waging an all-out war to ensure that it never has to comply with the full protections of the rule. Several members of Congress have announced they plan to introduce Congressional Review Act resolutions of disapproval in an attempt to prevent the implementation of the rule.
Industry opponents of the Retirement Security rule claim that retirement savers have sufficient protections under existing SEC regulations and model state regulations, despite clear evidence to the contrary. Their trade associations have gone as far as to tell members of Congress they plan to stop providing their constituents with investment advice if they must comply with this proposed rule. This is clear evidence that they are not putting their clients' financial best interests first - a tactic admission they are pushing their clients towards high-fee products that offer them better commissions, but are not necessarily appropriate for these retirement savers.