ANALYSIS: Massachusetts Fiduciary Rule—Help or Headache?

Covid-19 has altered the basic functions of day-to-day life, and it could alter the implementation of the SEC’s Regulation Best Interest rule. But the challenges of working toward Reg BI’s compliance date of June 30 are not limited to this global upheaval. In our prior piece, we mentioned the possibility of efforts by various states and interest groups that view the SEC’s final standard-of-care requirements as too vague or lacking the expected improved protections for investors.

Well, we were not wrong.

The first of the outlier states, Massachusetts, has filed its final regulation (MA Fiduciary Rule), effective March 6, ...