U.S. Labor Department extends effective date of rules on investment advice

Washington – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) published in the March 20, 2009, edition of the Federal Register a notice extending to May 22, 2009, the applicability and effective dates of the final rule on investment advice under the Pension Protection Act (PPA).

The PPA amended the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by adding a new prohibited transaction exemption that allows greater flexibility for participants of 401(k) plans and individual retirement accounts to obtain investment advice. On January 21, 2009, the department published the final rule.

The department has decided to postpone for 60 days the effective and applicability dates of the final rule to give it time to review legal and policy issues raised by many of the 26 public comment letters received.