Court nixes DOL fiduciary rule
A Texas federal court vacated the Biden administration’s 2024 DOL fiduciary rule, leaving Reg BI and state best-interest standards intact — so federal retirement-advice changes won’t hit immediately and regulatory status quo prevails. That keeps clarity for broker-dealers and advisors but raises the need to publicly reaffirm client-first practices amid ongoing industry scrutiny. (wealthmanagement.com)
A federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas approved an unopposed motion to vacate the DOL’s 2024 “Retirement Security Rule” in mid‑March, a filing credited to Judge Jeremy D. Kernodle. (napa-net.org) A separate final judgment entered March 17, 2026 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas set aside the Retirement Security Rule and its package of amendments to prohibited transaction exemptions. (investmentnews.com) Judge Reed O’Connor of the Northern District and Judge Jeremy D. Kernodle of the Eastern District both signed court actions that together removed the DOL rule from the regulatory landscape after the Department of Labor stopped defending the rule. (citywire.com) The DOL and Justice Department previously withdrew their appellate defense in late November 2025 when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit granted the government’s motion to dismiss the appeal on Nov. 28, 2025. (planadviser.com) The DOL removed the 2024 rule from the Code of Federal Regulations and restored ERISA’s traditional five‑part fiduciary test in a March 18, 2026 Federal Register vacatur notice issued by the agency’s Employee Benefits Security Administration. (dol.gov) The court orders nullified the 2024 amendments to prohibited transaction exemptions, including changes tied to PTE 84‑24 (and related revisions affecting PTE 2020‑02), that had been scheduled to take effect in September 2024. (fredreish.com) Regulation Best Interest at the SEC and existing state-level best-interest standards remain the operative conduct framework for brokers and insurance agents while the DOL rule has been vacated, a point emphasized by industry groups including the Insured Retirement Institute and trade associations that led the litigation. (investmentnews.com)
