Clifford Chance

U.S. Department of Labor Proposes New Fiduciary Rules

17 April 2015

On April 14, 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a long-awaited notice of proposed rulemaking relating to the definition of "investment advice fiduciary" under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and the Internal Revenue Code. The 2015 Proposed Rules aim to increase consumer protection by replacing the existing "five-part" test for determining the status of an investment advice fiduciary and imposing the same standards that apply to plans covered by ERISA on individual retirement accounts.

In an effort to respond to concerns from commentators following the issuance of similar proposed regulations published by the DOL in 2010, the 2015 Proposed Rules include specific carve-outs from the definition of fiduciary investment advice, and propose two new prohibited transaction class exemptions.

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