Hatch Statement on DOL Fiduciary Rule

Utah Senator Says, “This wrong-headed approach will pull the rug out from under hard-working, middle class families in communities across the country seeking expert advice on how to prepare for their future and adequately save for retirement.”

WASHINGTON –Today, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) approved the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) so-called fiduciary rule that will abolish long-held financial brokerage business models, limit access for everyday Americans to financial advisors and increase compliance costs and regulations for those who provide workers and retirees with critical investment advice. In response, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) issued the following statement:

“The Obama Administration’s insistence on regulating financial advisers on Main Street is terribly misguided. This wrong-headed approach will pull the rug out from under hard-working, middle class families in communities across the country seeking expert advice on how to prepare for their future and adequately save for retirement. While it will take time to review the final, thousand page rule, and its potential consequences, one thing is certain: the Department of Labor should not be the agency charged with regulating Individual Retirement Account (IRA) investment advice. IRA’s are part of the tax code. They have traditionally fallen under the purview of the U.S. Treasury Department and I firmly believe that is where they should stay.”

Hatch has long warned of the consequences of the rule and is the author of the SAFE Retirement Act, a public and private pension reform bill which includes language to restore the Department of Treasury’s jurisdiction over the IRA prohibited transaction rules that DOL has manipulated beyond reason or recognition in its mission to assert power over retail investment advice.

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