Saturday, June 10, 2017

Policy Watch: Another week of weakening labor laws and making us more susceptible to a financial crisis [feedly]

Policy Watch: Another week of weakening labor laws and making us more susceptible to a financial crisis
http://www.epi.org/blog/policy-watch-weakening-labor-laws-and-making-us-more-susceptible-to-a-financial-crisis/

In the midst of a chaotic week, Congress and the Trump administration found time to quietly attack important worker protections and undermine the rules and regulations that make our economy fairer for working people and their families. Yesterday, the House passed legislation that makes our economy more susceptible to financial crises in the future, exposes consumers and investors to heightened risk of abuse in their dealings with the financial sector and rolls back the "fiduciary rule," which requires financial advisers to act in the best interest of their clients. On Wednesday, Secretary of Labor Acosta testified in support of President Trump's budget request for fiscal year 2018 that slashes funding for the agency that protects workers' wages and health and safety by 20 percent. And in a symbolic anti-worker move, the Trump administration also withdrew Department of Labor guidance designed to help employers understand their obligations under the law.

Fiduciary Rule

Today, the Department of Labor regulation known as the "fiduciary rule" was officially implemented. So, all financial advisers are finally, technically required to act in the best interest of clients saving for retirement. This is a huge win for savers but, while the rule's fiduciary standard is now in effect, it comes with a couple of catches. Important compliance provisions built into the rule's exemptions have been delayed until January 1, 2018. DOL has made it clear that it will not enforce the rule until then, either. Until the rule has been fully implemented and is being fully enforced, retirement savers will keep losing money to unscrupulous financial advisers.

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