Will 2014 finally bring regulatory closure to the issue of "fiduciary" or are we destined to wait for Godot yet again?

This was the tone I got when I spoke to various financial service providers and key members of major industry associations (see, "Compliance Headaches Coming for 401k Plan Sponsors Due to New Fiduciary Regs in 2014?" FiduciaryNews.com, January 7, 2014). One common thread, though, appeared in many of the responses. What's surprising about it is not what it reveals, but what it ignores.

There seems to be a developing consensus that the Department of Labor will take the lead on the fiduciary issue by proposing its updated Fiduciary Rule sometime in August. Not only is Phyllis Borzi famously promoting the new Rule, but now DOL Secretary Thomas Perez has even taken a more visible role in its campaign.