Washington – ATR President Grover Norquist issued the following statement this week in support of President Donald Trump’s announcement that he plans to halt the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Fiduciary Rule and his instruction to DOL officials to pursue regulatory action to undo the rule:
“President Trump’s announcement this week that he will delay the DOL’s Fiduciary Rule and pursue regulatory action to undo the rule is a positive first step to protect low-and-middle income Americans, small businesses, and employees from increased retirement savings costs and reduced access to investment advice.
“The Fiduciary Rule put forth by the DOL under President Obama was set to take effect in April of this year. The rule would have greatly reduced the ability of financial advisors to give advice to IRA and 401(k) holders, essentially putting the federal government between Americans and their retirement savings decisions.
“Estimates show the Fiduciary Rule could have disqualified up to 7 million IRA holders from investment advice, and reduced the number of IRAs opened annually by between 300,000 and 400,000.
“I applaud President Trump’s leadership on this important issue and his willingness to work quickly to protect Americans and their retirement savings decisions. ATR looks forward to working with President Trump to undo this harmful and costly rule.”
Photo credit: Gage Skidmore