DOL Withdraws Filings in Support of Anti-Arbitration Condition

The DOL is removing documents it once filed in court to support the fiduciary rule’s anti-arbitration condition, which is intended to prevent investors from pursuing class litigation against financial advisers (Thrivent Fin. for Lutherans v. Acosta, D. Minn., No. 0:16-cv-03289, letter to the district judge 7/14/17).

The move comes almost two weeks after the Labor Department announced that it will no longer defend the validity of the best-interest-contract exemption’s condition restricting class litigation waivers as it applies to arbitration agreements. That announcement could have a major effect in a case brought by Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, a financial ...