Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, and Rep. ElijahCummings, D-Maryland, are urging the Department of Labor and Officeof Budget and Management to quickly finalize the DOL’s proposed fiduciary rule, basedon what they say is evidence the financial services industry isexaggerating the rule’s potential negative consequences.

In a letter sent to Labor Secretary Thomas Perez and OMBdirector Shaun Donovan, the two lawmakers say the “doomsday”scenarios advanced by industry opponents of the rule don’t comportwith what some stakeholders are disclosing to investors.

Specifically, they cite comments to investors made by fourproviders of guaranteed income products—Jackson National LifeInsurance Co., Lincoln National, Prudential Financial, andTransAmerica Corp.

In December 2015, those companies and five other leaders in theannuity industry authored an opinioneditorial, claiming the DOL’s proposed rule would have a“potentially devastating impact” on Americans’ access to annuityproducts, particularly for low and middle-income earners.

This is an argument that has been advanced by industry interestgroups and stakeholders throughout the more than five-yearrulemaking process.

Read our coverage on the DOL fiduciary ruleHERE

In that op-ed, the insurance companies said, “it is difficult tooverstate the detrimental impact the proposed rule will have on themiddle-class.”

But in statements made to investors during earnings calls lastyear, many of those same companies took a much more “sanguine” viewof the rule’s impact, according Warren and Cummings’ letter.

And those views should be meaningful to regulators at the OMB,given securities law requirements that public companies provideinvestors with “true and accurate assessments of the impact of theproposed rule,” or else risk violating disclosure requirements.

While legally bound to be accurate with investors, those samecompanies had no such requirement in relaying assessments of therule’s impact to regulators in comment letters, note Warren andCummings.

In a May 2015 conference call with analysts, shortly after theproposal was made public, Lincoln National CEO Dennis Glass, said,“we don’t see this as a significant hurdle for continuing to growthat business,” in response to a question on the rule’s impact.

Around the same time Stephen Pelletier, COO of PrudentialFinancial, told investors, “we’ll be able to make (annuities) theseofferings on terms that work for everybody.”

The lawmakers’ letter also noted Jackson National Life andTransAmerica Corp. for assuring investors of their ability toadjust to the DOL’s proposal.

The OMB is two weeks into its review of the DOL’s rule, whichwill take around 50 days, if that review is expedited.

Critics of the proposal have questioned its potential impact onannuities, which are mostly sold on commissions.

While the proposal does not outlaw commission-based investmentproducts, many ERISA experts have suggested theproposal’s Best Interest Contract Exemption will makecommission-based sales difficult for advisors’ to execute, givennew and extensive disclosure requirements and the heightenedprospect of private litigation against advisors resulting from theproposal.

That could disincentive advisors from marketing annuities at atime when many retirement experts and other regulatory bodies are callingfor wider access to guaranteed-income products, say critics of therule.

Mike Webb, vice president of Cammack Retirement Group, a NewYork-based fiduciary advisory and a supporter of the DOL’s rule,suggested the issues raised in Warren and Cummings’ letter may beacademic at this point.

“I believe that insurers, as well as the remainder of thefinancial services industry, are preparing for the inevitablereality of the new fiduciary rule,” said Webb in an email.

“The only question at this point is the final form that rulewill take,” he added.