The Department of Labor's new fiduciary rule, which was set to go into effect September 23, could now be pushed back, as lawsuits continue to prevail. Last week, a group of insurers responded to the DOL's response to their lawsuit filed on May 24, urging a Texas federal court to seek injunction to the Retirement Security Rule.

Nine insurance trade associations, including The American Council on Life Insurers, the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors, the Insured Retirement Institute and the National Association for Fixed Annuities, filed a lawsuit, American Council of Life Insurers et al. v. U.S. Department of Labor, against the DOL seeking to overturn the fiduciary rule because it limits consumer choice of financial professionals and access to retirement products.

"The DOL's biggest failing is its inability to learn from past mistakes," the insurer's initial group statement said. "Despite sound evidence of its harmful effects, strong objections from Members of Congress and opposition voiced in thousands of consumer comments, the DOL chose to advance a repackaged version of its ill-advised 2016 regulation," the statement said. "Before it was struck down by the Fifth Circuit, the 2016 regulation resulted in more than 10 million American workers' accounts with $900 billion in savings losing access to professional financial guidance."

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