FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 23, 2024
LABOR DEPARTMENT’S FINAL RETIREMENT SECURITY RULES WILL HELP PROTECT THE SAVINGS OF ALL AMERICANS FROM ADVISER CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
April 23, 2024, Washington, D.C. – Members of the Save Our Retirement coalition, along with a diverse collection of more than 60 consumer, retirement, and labor groups, today commended the Department of Labor (DOL) for issuing final rules designed to protect Americans from the harmful effects of conflicts of interest when financial advisers provide retirement investment advice:
“The release of these rules is a major accomplishment that will help bring millions of retirement savers closer to a financially secure, dignified retirement. The DOL has finalized strong rules that will better protect workers and retirees by closing significant legal loopholes, so that the retirement investment advice they receive serves their best interests rather than the self-interest of financial professionals they turn to for advice.
The rules will require all financial professionals who provide retirement investment advice to put the best interests of their clients ahead of what’s best for their own pockets. This commonsense requirement is long overdue and promises to be a major improvement over the status quo, which allows too many financial professionals and firms to offer self-serving retirement advice at the expense of workers and retirement savers. Conflicted recommendations costs retirement savers and their families tens of billions of dollars a year. The rules will stop those dollars from being siphoned off by Wall Street and put them back to work for families.
Given the financial stakes, it’s not surprising that certain Wall Street and insurance industry firms are attacking the rules. At the same time, there are many financial professionals who already meet these standards and want to see rules in place that require high-quality retirement investment advice that is not tainted by conflicts of interest.
We call on every Member of Congress to reject any efforts to block these rules and, instead, stand up for the hard-working Americans who deserve no less than the protections these rules will provide.”
The following organizations issued the above statement:
AARP
Accountable.US
Affordable Homeownership Foundation Inc.
AFL-CIO
Alliance for Retired Americans
American Association for Justice
American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO (AFGE)
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
Americans for Financial Reform Education Fund
Asset Building Strategies
Better Markets
Center for American Progress
Center for Economic and Policy Research
Center for Economic Justice
Communications Workers of America (CWA)
Consumer Action
Consumer Federation of America
Consumer Federation of California
Consumer Reports
Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety
DC Consumer Rights Coalition
Economic Policy Institute
FL National Organization for Women
Global Policy Solutions
In the Public Interest
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
Institute for the Fiduciary Standard
International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers
International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE)
International Plate Printers, Die Stampers, Plate Makers & Engravers of North America
Jewish Women International
Latino Farmers & Ranchers International, Inc.
Life Insurance Consumer Advocacy Center
NAACP
National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association (NARFE)
National Association of Agriculture Employees
National Association of Consumer Advocates
National Association of Personal Financial Advisors
National Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development (National CAPACD)
National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare
National Consumers League
National Education Association
National Employment Law Project
National Federation of Federal Employees
National Immigration Law Center
National Organization for Women Foundation
National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives
National Treasury Employees Union
National Women’s Law Center
NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice
Pension Rights Center
Poverty Project at the Institute for Policy Studies
Prosperity Indiana
Public Citizen
Public Good Law Center
Public Investors Advocate Bar Association (PIABA)
Public Justice Center
The Committee for the Fiduciary Standard
Transport Workers Union of America
Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice
United Steelworkers (USW)
USPIRG
Virginia Citizens Consumer Council