Obama-era fiduciary rule draws last breath

The “fiduciary rule” is officially dead.

The Labor Department rule, conceived by the Obama administration, was meant to ensure that advisers put their clients’ financial interests ahead of their own when recommending retirement investments.

The rule’s fate was all but sealed with the election of President Donald Trump, who generally opposes financial regulations. Just two weeks into his presidency, he ordered a review of the rule “to determine whether it may adversely affect the ability of Americans to gain access to retirement information and financial advice.”

Then this past March, the rule was dealt a serious blow when a federal appeals court that was hearing a challenge to the rule by business groups vacated it in a split decision, overturning a lower court. The majority argued, in part, that the Labor Department had overstepped its authority in reinterpreting a fiduciary standard that had been on the books for decades.

In late April, the Trump administration allowed a deadline to seek a rehearing to pass without taking action.

A few days later, the rule went on life support after the same court unanimously denied a motion by California, New York, Oregon and AARP to replace the federal government in defending it.

Finally, on Wednesday, the last deadline for resuscitating the fiduciary rule passed when the government declined to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider the appeals court’s decision.

One procedural step remains: The court clerk must formally vacate the fiduciary rule by issuing a so-called mandate. To resurrect the rule before that occurs, the Fifth Circuit would have to take the unlikely step of challenging its own decision.

ISTOCKPHOTO The fiduciary rule had required investment advisers to put their clients’ best interests ahead of their own.