With what Labor Secretary Thomas Perez called a "keen ear and healthy dose of humility," the Department of Labor has finalized a fiduciary rule after making what he called substantial changes to the proposed version.

Never a fan of the suitability standard that has guided the brokerage advisory industry to date, Perez implied the final rule makes good on his commitment to slow down the rulemaking process and fully consider stakeholders' concerns, a pledge he made to lawmakers during his confirmation hearings.

For Perez and the DOL, the challenge of writing a rule that would insist on a fiduciary level of care for advisors to most 401(k) plans and all IRA accounts was never about "bad people doing bad things," but rather the heart of the challenge was that advisors have been operating in a "structurally flawed system."