DOL Comment Letter from Figari+Davenport

It is hard to state forcefully enough how the Department’s proposals reflect a complete lack of deference to the Chamber of Commerce opinion. The Department seems to believe it is unencumbered by the Fifth Circuit decision, which it tries to reduce to mere criticism of the Best Interest Contract (BIC) Exemption. In fact, however, that decision represented a complete repudiation of the Department’s approach to the definition of investment advice fiduciary, which the Department now returns to again without any acknowledgement that it is exactly what the Fifth Circuit already considered and rejected.