STATEMENT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: NAPFA Media Relations, mediaoutreach@egyptawe.com

NAPFA Statement on the Reintroduced U.S. Department of Labor Retirement Security Rule

CHICAGO, IL (October 31, 2023) – Today, the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA) issued the following statement regarding the U.S. Department of Labor’s proposed retirement security rule:

The U.S. Department of Labor's proposed retirement security rule is a major step forward to update and strengthen the fiduciary standard of care for the millions of hard-working Americans with retirement plans. We commend the Department for taking this important step to protect retirement savers.

NAPFA looks forward to reviewing the proposed retirement security rule, engaging a range of stakeholders to assess the rule’s efficacy and providing our comments to the Department to help build a robust final rule that ensures hard-working Americans receive retirement investment advice that is in their best interest. We intend to focus our review on the additional protections for retirement savers that would be provided under ERISA and that would exceed those under the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Regulation Best Interest.

In public comments to the SEC concerning ‘Regulation Best Interest,’ NAPFA strongly encouraged the SEC to use the CFP Board’s Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct as a template to extend the fiduciary obligation of a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional to all financial advice. We encourage the Department of Labor to adopt new regulations that do not merely mirror language from the SEC’s ‘Regulation Best Interest,’ but establish strengthened safeguards under ERISA that protect retirement savers against conflicts of interest with the robust fiduciary standard expressed in the CFP Standards. American workers and households, who are investing their hard-earned savings for a financially secure retirement, deserve to know that the financial professional advising them is working solely in their best interest.

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About NAPFA

Since 1983, the National Association of Personal Financial Advisors has provided Fee‐Only financial advisors across the country with some of the highest standards possible for professional competency, comprehensive financial planning, and Fee‐Only compensation. With more than 4,500 members across the country, NAPFA is the leading professional association in the United States dedicated to the advancement of Fee‐Only financial planning. Learn more at 7ltf.egyptawe.com.