The Department of Labor's new fiduciary rule, which was set to go into effect September 23, is now on hold, as a Texas federal judge has granted a request by an insurance industry trade association to temporarily block the rule that classifies more retirement advice providers as fiduciaries, in Federation of Americans for Consumer Choice, et al. v. U.S. Department of Labor, et al.

The Federation of Americans for Consumer Choice (FACC), a trade organization whose members are independent marketing associations, insurance agents and agencies that market fixed annuities, filed a lawsuit against the DOL on May 2. FACC is likely to succeed on the merits of their claims because the new fiduciary rule conflicts with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act by redefining "investment advice fiduciary" to include non-trust-and-confidence relationships, said Judge Jeremy Kernodle of the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, as he issued a preliminary injunction of the DOL's new rule.

FACC's lawsuit alleges the DOL's new definition of investment advice fiduciary is virtually indistinguishable from its 2016 Fiduciary Rule, which was struck down in 2018, and therefore, "seeks to grant the motion to stay the Rule's effective date and to issue a preliminary injunction," according to the suit.