The American Retirement Association wrote to the Department of Labor to respond to a request for comment with respect to the Conflict of Interest Regulation and related exemptions. In the letter, the American Retirement Association recommended:
1) that the definition of Level Fee in the Best Interest Contract Exemption be clarified to permit a Level Fee Fiduciary to receive transaction-based compensation under an offset arrangement that fall within the parameters of Advisory Opinion 97-15A;
2) that the Department revise the Best Interest Contract Exemption to eliminate the costly, inefficient, and inconsistent enforcement mechanism of class action litigation; and
3) to delay the applicability date for the Regulation until January 1, 2018 and that transitional relief for the Best Interest Contract Exemption be extended until July 1, 2018, and that if be a transition period of at least 24 months from the date a revised exemption (or rule) is issued.