Newsflash: ERISA's Fiduciary Rule Vacated - "When Congress Has Acted with a Scalpel, It Is Not for the Agency to Wield a Cudgel"

To echo Rod Serling in the setting of - appropriately - The Twilight Zone, submitted for your consideration is the Fifth Circuit's rejection yesterday, March 15, 2018, of the fiduciary rule of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). In the words of the Fifth Circuit, "When Congress has acted with a scalpel, it is not for the agency to wield a cudgel." The holding of Chamber of Commerce v. U.S. Department of Labor is clear: the rule is vacated. ‎The final effect of the decision is less clear. Will the DOL resist the decision? And, if not, where does that ultimately leave the rule? While more clarity may emerge as reaction to and analysis of the case ensues, both by the DOL and in the private sector, this OnPoint is provided at this juncture just to alert the reader to the case, in light of its enormous importance.

Our earlier discussions of the fiduciary rule may be found here. If you have any questions regarding the the Fifth Circuit decision or the fiduciary rule in general, please contact the Dechert attorney listed below or any Dechert attorney with whom you regularly work.