Under pressure from Republicans in Congress and from industry professionals nationwide, the Department of Labor (DOL) has agreed to extend by 15 days the public commentary period on its proposed new fiduciary definition and rule.
Set to close on July 6, the public’s commentary period closing date will be clarified next week in the Federal Register, according to a DOL statement issued late Friday (May 15), but tacking on 15 days would clearly bring the deadline to July 21 if weekends are included.
DOL further explained in its statement that “although the proposed rule included a 75-day comment period from the date of publication, the department has made clear that the opportunity for public input would not end after 75 days.”
The statement continued: “There will be a public hearing within 30 days of the close of the initial comment period, after which the comment period will reopen until approximately two weeks after the hearing transcript is published – a process that the department anticipates will provide an additional 30 to 45 days of public comment. In total, the 75-day comment period would in fact have provided between 111 and 127 days of public comment when these additional steps are considered.”
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