Better Markets joined several other public interest groups to urge the Department of Labor to extend the comment period on a rule that would take away protections for retirees. 

In a statement on the DOL’s attempt to shortcut the comment period for the flawed rule, Steve Hall, Legal Director and Securities Specialist for Better Markets, said the DOL is “catering to the financial services industry and not the retirement savers it should be looking out for.”

“The DOL is desperately trying to weaken protections against biased investment recommendations that siphon away tens of billions of dollars a year from Americans’ retirement accounts,” Hall says. “It doesn’t want stakeholders to have a full and fair opportunity to object by submitting comment letters. So, for its recent rule proposal on the standards governing financial advisers, the DOL cut the minimum 60-day comment period in half to just 30 days. And for another related rule, it skipped the comment period entirely and just declared it “final.”

Hall says the secretive approach to rulemaking is unreasonable, unfair, and contrary to the law. That’s why Better Markets joined with other public interest organizations in a letter to the DOL urging it to extend the comment period on the proposal to at least 90 days.

“The proposal is so complex and important, affecting almost every American struggling to save for a decent retirement. The public must have a meaningful opportunity to comment on rule proposals, with a minimum of 60 days if not more.”