NAFA Drops Appeal Against DOL Fiduciary Rule
March 27, 2018 by Melanie Waddell
The National Association for Fixed Annuities’ board said Friday that it withdrew its appeal against the Labor Department’s fiduciary rule, saying the March 15 decision by the U.S Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit to vacate Labor’s rule “vindicates” NAFA’s concerns.
NAFA and the Justice Department agreed to a voluntary dismissal of the appeal.
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“We are very pleased the 5th Circuit understood the harms the fiduciary rule created for middle American retirement savers,” said NAFA Executive Director Chip Anderson in a statement, adding that NAFA sees “no reason to continue to pursue our litigation in another federal circuit court.”
NAFA had filed its complaint against Labor’s rule in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. That court on Nov. 14 granted NAFAs’ motion to delay the oral arguments in NAFA’s appeal against the fiduciary rule until a decision was made in the 5th Circuit.
NAFA stated that it believes the 5th Circuit decision “renders its case moot.”
However, Anderson stated that NAFA still has “a lot of work to do,” and will now focus its energy “on promoting insurance regulations that properly recognize differences among financial products and the way those products are delivered.”
NAFA is “confident that fixed annuities will always play an important role in meeting the needs of retirement-oriented consumers and will continue our fight to promote fair-minded regulation that give consumers real choice in a vibrant financial services marketplace,” Anderson said.
