SEC Enforcement Slowly Tilting Fiduciary Needle toward ERISA
Corporate Compliance InsightsJanuary 17, 2018
At stake in the prolonged debate over a “best-interest” standard of care for retirement advice are $7.5 trillion in 401(k)-type assets and $8.4 trillion in IRA assets. Whether or not the Department of Labor (DOL) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will eventually come to agreement on a uniform standard of conduct remains to be seen, but the SEC’s inspection and enforcement arms are slowly forging ahead by imperceptibly moving the regulatory needle in favor of the DOL’s higher standard for advice-givers. Compliance officers, as well as plan sponsors’ HR Departments and the investment committees that oversee 401(k)-type defined contribution plans, are wise to examine this trend, as it can impact their business moving forward.
