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Compliance November 16, 2009
EBSA Delays Advice Rule – Again
November 16, 2009 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) announced Monday that it is giving itself until May 17, 2010, to develop a new version of its final investment advice rule.
Reported by Fred Schneyer
An EBSA news release said the January 2009 rule was originally expected to kick in on March 23, but was put off until May 22. At that point, the department decided it needed more time to rework the rule in light of public comments it had received and extended the effective date a second time to November 18.
“The department since has determined that additional time is necessary to consider the legal and policy issues raised by comments on the final rule,” EBSA said in the announcement. “Today’s extension of the effective and applicability dates will afford the department the additional time to determine appropriate steps to be taken.”
In a September speech, Assistant Secretary of Labor Phyllis Borzi said the investment advice would be the “first out of the box” in the department’s regulatory review (see EBSA Sets Out Carrot, Stick Agenda ).
Borzi said DoL was “taking a fresh look, working to bring the regulations closer” to the provisions in the Pension Protection Act.