The undersigned organizations and individuals, advocating on behalf of workers, consumers, investors, and retirees, are writing to express our strong opposition to the Department’s proposed new retirement advice rulemaking package. We oppose both the final rule reinstating the 1975 regulatory definition of fiduciary investment advice and the proposed exemption allowing investment advice fiduciaries to earn conflicted compensation when providing advice regarding retirement plan and individual retirement account (IRA) investments.

Together, these rules would put the retirement security of millions of American workers and retirees at risk by exposing them to conflicted retirement investment advice without adequate protections to limit the harmful impact of those conflicts of interest. We therefore urge you to withdraw the regulatory package in its entirety and to begin again on a rulemaking proposal that prioritizes protecting retirement savers from the toxic conflicts of interest that pervade the financial services industry.