In a letter to the Department of Labor (DOL), CFA reviews comments offered by industry trade associations opposed to the DOL conflict of interest (or “fiduciary”) rule. These commenters claim to offer “new evidence” showing that the DOL fiduciary rule is harming retirement savers by depriving them of access to advice, reducing their choice of investment products, and increasing their costs. But even a cursory review of their comments confirms that their purported “new evidence” suffers from the same fatal flaws as all of their previously provided “evidence.” Should the DOL rely on such flimsy and biased “evidence” provided by rule opponents in order to justify revisions to the rule, it would be arbitrary and capricious and subject the Department to legal challenge.

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