Labor Secretary R. Alexander Acosta has made halting the fiduciary rule's June 9 compliance date asa top priority, with published reports saying he's looking for away to freeze the rule that will “stick.”

“Our sense is that he [Acosta] is still looking for a 'solution'that could be implemented in final form before June 9,” Fred Reish,partner in Drinker Biddle & Reath's employee benefits andexecutive compensation practice group in Los Angeles,said. “He seems to want an answer that cannot be challengedsuccessfully in court. But, we think he is still looking for thatanswer.”

News is that Acosta told Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., that he“recognized the urgency of the situation” and that he is lookingfor a way to halt the rule — which has been delayed from April 10to June 9.

The National Association for Plan Advisors saysthat according to the communication between Acosta and thesenator, “Scott pressed the case against the rule, saying thatit wasn't going to hurt Wall Street as much as it will hurteveryday Americans who need access to investment advice.”

Scott and Acosta met to follow up on aletter that Scott and eight other GOP senators sent toAcosta on April 28 urging the DOL, “pursuant to the president'smemorandum and in light of the numerous concerns with the finalfiduciary rule,” to carry out “the president's directives withoutdelay and finalize a new fiduciary rule review before any part ofthe rule becomes applicable.”

NAFA “is pleased by news reports that Secretary Acosta is makingthe fiduciary rule his number one priority and purportedly lookingfor ways to freeze the rule,” Eric Marhoun, chair of NAFA's DOLsteering and litigation committee, who's also executive vicepresident and general counsel for Fidelity & Guarantee Life inDes Moines, said.

NAFA launched a grassroots campaign on May 8 to appealdirectly to the Trump administration as well as to Acosta to stopLabor's fiduciary rule from taking effect on June 9.

Marhoun said the trade group “will continue pushing hard for theWhite House and Secretary Acosta to honor the president's directivethat this rule be studied carefully before any part of it takeseffect, and hopes ultimately the rule will be repealed in itsentirety consistent with the president's agenda to eliminatewasteful and unnecessary regulations that do far more harm thangood.”

The “sense is there needs to be action quickly — within the nextweek or two,” Marhoun added.