While some might read the Fifth Circuit decision merely as a rebuke to the Labor Department, the FACC Campaign believes the Fifth Circuit decision stands for a larger proposition. The Court made clear that agents who sell products are not fiduciaries and should not be held to fiduciary standards. To do otherwise is contrary to decades of common law as well as highly evolved statutory and regulatory decision-making.

While the Scottrade case and these various pronouncements generally are directed at the securities industry, not fixed annuities, the implications are deeply worrisome.  The Fixed Annuity Consumer Choice (FACC) Campaign is concerned these developments prove the U.S. Department of Labor is losing control over the rule and unleashing uncontrolled forces such as hyper-aggressive state regulators and the always profit-hungry plaintiff’s bar that may wreak havoc on the financial services industry.

If you live or have a business in Georgia, please take a moment to send Senator Perdue a letter thanking him for his support and leadership. You can do so by simply clicking on the foregoing link. If you prefer to call him, his DC office number is ‎(202) 224-3521 and his Atlanta number is 404-865-0087.

The FACC Campaign is concerned many agents and distributors are not aware of THREE VITAL FACTS:  1. DOL HAS NOT YET ISSUED A DELAY – the Office of Management & Budget approved the proposed delay in record time but we have heard nothing formally from DOL as of today.  2.

The FACC Campaign is grateful to Congressmen Stivers & Cleaver and thanks them for their support and thoughtful letter to Secretary Acosta!

Please sign a letter of petition to Department of Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta urging him to delay implementation of the Fiduciary Rule exemptions. Join our campaign to extend the transition period to July 1, 2019 and fix the treatment of fixed indexed annuities.

It’s been another interesting week with the usual mix of the good, the bad, and the uncertain. In any case, we appreciate your continuing interest! FACC’s goal for this blog is to provide you with reliable updates and correct a lot of misinformation that seems to be floating around in our industry.

nothing. But, don’t think the silence means that victory is upon us – IT IS NOT!
The news of the delay is a hopeful sign. However, the lack of information and continued deafening silence creates more uncertainty and confusion. As we blogged last week, there are many possible interpretations of what this means:

The Rumors of the DOL Rule’s Death are Highly Exaggerated! The shot heard across the nation last Wednesday was the sound of a DOL proposal to delay further implementation of the fiduciary-rule exemptions until July 2019.  The Department’s proposal to extend the Jan. 1 effective date for the remaining portions of the exemptions was first disclosed in documents released Wednesday in a court challenge Thrivent Financial for Lutherans v. Perez.