After denying a request to extend the comment period for its proposed guidance to update the definition of an investment advice fiduciary, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced that the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) will hold an online hearing beginning Dec. 12. 
According to the DOL’s announcement, the hearing will be held on Dec. 12 and Dec. 13, 2023, beginning at 9 a.m. (EST). If necessary, the department will continue the hearing on Dec. 14. Those interested in testifying at the hearing must submit a request to the department by Nov. 29.
In addition to reviewing the proposed rulemaking on the definition of an investment advice fiduciary, the hearing also will focus on the related proposed prohibited transaction exemption (PTE) amendments, published in the Federal Register on Nov. 3, 2023.
If adopted as proposed, the rule would define who is an investment advice fiduciary under ERISA in relation to giving investment advice to retirement plan participants and individual retirement account owners, among others. Moreover, the proposed amendments seek to make the exemption conditions more uniform and protect retirement investors better, the DOL notes.
“The hearing will provide interested parties with a full opportunity to provide important public input that will inform the Department of Labor’s next steps in the rulemaking process for the proposal,” Assistant Secretary for Employee Benefits Security Lisa M. Gomez said in a statement.
As noted previously, the proposed rule and proposed exemption amendments contain a 60-day comment period, scheduled to close on Jan. 2, 2024.
Notably, when the proposal was first released, it advised that a hearing would take place “approximately 45 days” following the Federal Register publication date; instead, the Dec. 12 hearing date is actually 39 days from the date the proposal was first published.
In contrast, when the 2010 fiduciary rule was released, the DOL initially had a 90-day comment period, followed by a 14-day extension. The DOL then held a public meeting, followed by a 15-day comment period for response, the trade organizations had noted in their request to extend the comment period. What’s more, for the 2016 fiduciary rule and related exemptions, the DOL allowed a 75-day comment period and granted a 15-day extension. After a public hearing, there was then another 15-day comment period.
Additional details about the hearing, as well as instructions about how to request to testify, can be found on EBSA’s website and will be published in the Federal Register.
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