Fred Reish Quoted in Pensions & Investments on Reg BI Affecting Fiduciary Rule

Los Angeles partner Fred Reish was quoted in a Pensions & Investments article titled “DOL could ride on the back of Reg BI for fiduciary rule.” The article examines how the Department of Labor is looking to harmonize its upcoming fiduciary rule-making with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s new standards-of-conduct package.

Fred said that it would be forbidden for a broker-dealer to give fiduciary advice that leads to them receiving commissions. “I expect to see proposals that say that, in those cases, commissions would be allowed to be paid if the compensation is reasonable, the advice is in the best interest of the participant, and if other similar conditions were met,” he added.

According to Fred, “creative attorneys will come up with creative arguments,” adding that the DOL rule will likely “integrate the SEC’s Reg BI in a manner that the DOL can justifiably say that the SEC rule is a proper basis for the new regulation and exemptions” in order to thwart lawsuits.