DOL releases long-awaited final rule

On April 6, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released the long-awaited fiduciary rule in its final form. The DOL released the rule after months of public comment, with many of the nation’s insurers, agents and trade associations weighing in heavily against the proposed language. The final rule appears to make many concessions to the concerns raised by insurers and agents, but still contains troublesome language for the industry. Implementation of the rule applies to all transactions after April 10, 2017, and companies are already in the process of analyzing what it means for them and their network of agents.