Effort to block investment advice rules faces veto
Reprints
President Barack Obama would veto legislation — now awaiting a vote by the House of Representatives — that would block enforcement of final Labor Department pension fiduciary rules, the White House says.
Under those rules, released earlier this month, retirement plan advisers could be at risk of civil penalties if they fail to consider customers’ best interests, while employers could be at risk should they or their advisers offer suggestions on investments in the plans they sponsor.
The final rule, which is scheduled to go in effect in about a year, replaces outdated rules that “did not ensure that financial advisersact in their clients’ best interest when giving retirement investment advice,” the White House said in a statement Wednesday.
The final rule “will ensure that American workers and retirees receive retirement advice in their best interest, better enabling them to protect and grow their savings,” the White House said, adding that “it is essential that these critical protections go into effect.”
Earlier the House Education and Workforce Committee approved a measure. H.J. Res. 88, to block enforcement of the rule.
At that time, committee member Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tenn., said, in a statement, the rule, if allowed to go into effect, would wreak “havoc on workers, retirees and small businesses.”
The House could vote on the measure as early as Thursday afternoon.
Read Next
-
Striking Verizon workers soon to lose company health insurance coverage
(Reuters) — A strike by nearly 40,000 Verizon Communications Inc. workers is in its third week with unions and the company still far apart on contract talks, even as employee healthcare benefits are set to expire on Saturday.
