Latest Fiduciary Rule Blocked by Judge
The latest iteration of the often- controversial fiduciary rule has been blocked by a federal judge . In a ruling July 25, Judge Jeremy Kernodle in Tyler, Texas, granted an insurance group’s request for a nationwide preliminary injunction blocking the rule—due to take effect this fall—until further order. The Federation of Americans for Consumer Choice, an advocacy group for independent insurance agents, filed a lawsuit May 2 challenging the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) new fiduciary rule, alleging it is “contrary to law and arbitrary and capricious.” The group, along with other independent insurance agents and firms, collectively filed the lawsuit against the fiduciary rule—which aims to modernize and increase investment advice standards for retirement accounts—in U.S. district court in Tyler, claiming that it exceeds the DOL’s authority and is in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act. They claimed the new rule is similar to a 2016 rule that was struck down in 20...