Preston Rutledge, the head of EBSA (Photo: Shawn T.Moore/DOL)
Preston Rutledge, assistant secretary of Labor for the Employee Benefits SecurityAdministration, will leave his post at the end of May. As head ofEBSA, Rutledge has been charged with spearheadingLabor's new fiduciary rule to align with the Securities and ExchangeCommission's Regulation Best Interest.
|As of Friday, that rule had yet to land at the Office ofManagement and Budget for review.
|Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia said in a Friday statement thatRutledge "brought greater security to employees' retirement andhealth care plans, and helped small businesses extend health careand retirement benefits to their workers."
|Rutledge's two-and-a-half years at Labor "are a fitting capstoneon an exceptional 25 years in government service. We will miss hiscounsel, and wish him all the best," Scalia said.
|Brad Campbell, former head of EBSA who's now a partner at FaegreDrinker Biddle & Reath, told ThinkAdvisor on Friday that whileRutledge's departure won't result "in any additional delayto current outstanding projects at EBSA, given the strength of hisdeputy, Jeanne Wilson, and the importance of the agency's missionto current events," Labor's fiduciary rule reboot has been pushedto the back burner.
|"Reproposing the fiduciary rule is not at the top of theDepartment's agenda," Campbell said. "How far down it has slippedonly time and publication of the spring regulatory agenda willtell."
|Moving the final electronic disclosure rule "ahead of theproposed fiduciary rule" makes sense, Campbell added. "That finalrule will likely be completed in time to become a lastingregulation even if President Trump does not win reelection, whilethe proposed fiduciary rule likely will be only partway through theregulatory process by the end of the year."
|Susan Neely, president and CEO of the American Council of LifeInsurers, added in a statement that Rutledge "was a champion ofwhat became the Secure Act from start to finish — first as alegislative architect in the Senate, and then at EBSA."
|Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., ranking member of the Senate Health,Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, pressed Rutledge in early April to exerciseLabor's new authority provided under the Coronavirus Aid, Reliefand Economic Security (CARES) Act to extend filing deadlines forcertain notice and disclosure requirements imposed by the EmployeeRetirement Income Security Act.
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Melanie Waddell
Melanie is senior editor and Washington bureau chief of ThinkAdvisor. Her ThinkAdvisor coverage zeros in on how politics, policy, legislation and regulations affect the investment advisory space. Melanie’s coverage has been cited in various lawmakers’ reports, letters and bills, and in the Labor Department’s fiduciary rule in 2023. In 2019, Melanie received an Honorable Mention, Range of Work by a Single Author award from @Folio. Melanie joined Investment Advisor magazine as New York bureau chief in 2000. She has been a columnist since 2002. She started her career in Washington in 1994, covering financial issues at American Banker. Since 1997, Melanie has been covering investment-related issues, holding senior editorial positions at American Banker publications in both Washington and New York. Briefly, she was content chief for Internet Capital Group’s EFinancialWorld in New York and wrote freelance articles for Institutional Investor. Melanie holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Towson University. She interned at The Baltimore Sun and its suburban edition.
