Secretary of Labor on Re-proposal of Fiduciary Rule

At a hearing of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis responded to questions from many members of Congress about the agency's proposal to change the definition of a plan fiduciary. One impact of the originally proposed regulations would have been to deem appraisers of ESOP shares to be plan fiduciaries, but the DOL withdrew that proposal in September 2011, promising to modify and re-propose the rules later. Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) inquired whether the Employee Benefits Security Administration is "asking the right questions" about the fiduciary rule, and whether the agency has finished collecting data. Solis responded that the agency is still willing to collect information relevant to the rule and described DOL as "not in a hurry" to re-propose the rule. The secretary did not provide a direct answer when asked if the re-proposal would still be issued in May.