The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and industry groups are urging a Texas federal judge to block an Obama-era retirement advice rule pending an appeal and as federal regulators consider halting implementation of the rule for 60 days, the National Law Journal reported today. U.S. District Judge Barbara M.G. Lynn on Feb. 8 upheld the Labor Department’s so-called “fiduciary rule,” saying that Congress gave regulators “broad discretion” to confront conflicts of interest and to protect retirement investors. The U.S. Chamber and other plaintiffs, including the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association and the Financial Services Institute, took their challenge to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. “Absent immediate relief, the fiduciary rule will bring about the most sweeping changes to the retirement savings system since the adoption of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”) — even as the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals examines whether the rule is lawful and the Department of Labor considers whether to revise or rescind it,” Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher partner Eugene Scalia wrote in court papers. “The rule would require a wholesale reordering of the financial-services and insurance industries.” The fiduciary rule, which was six years in the making, is set to take effect in April. The Trump administration is weighing a 60-day delay, giving regulators and Congress to determine next steps. Business groups sued in courts across the country last year to stop the rule — but judges ruled for the Labor Department.
