SHEBOYGAN, Wis. – HSA Bank, a subsidiary of Webster Bank NA, published a white paper report on the U.S. Department of Labor’s new regulatory fiduciary standards issued in April.
The new standards dictate the fiduciary responsibility of financial advisers, and is 600 pages long. HSA has boiled it down to a four-page white paper, which senior vice president Kevin Robertson says answers a lot of questions.
“Like all regulations such as this, the rules say that you must comply but don’t necessarily identify how to comply,” Robertson said in a statement. “The reality is that employers’ relationships with both providers and participants fundamentally changes under the new regulations. Employers are going to have new responsibilities that they have not previous had, and are going to be responsible for greater levels of oversight.”
The white paper details the what impact the new standards will have on employers, advisers and HSA administrators, saying it could “significantly impact many aspects of retirement plans and some aspects of health benefits, like HSAs. It also discusses the concept of “fiduciary” and “investment advice,” which are at the center of these new standards.
Investors largely expect the DOL’s new standards to forever change financial advice, as it’s designed to close several loopholes in financial advising.
The full white paper report can be downloaded here.
