DOL Concludes Swap Dealers are not ERISA Fiduciaries Under CFTC's Business Conduct Standard Rules

In a letter to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) regarding the CFTC's final business conduct standard rules prescribing standards for swap dealers and major swap participants, Phyllis Borzi, Assistant Secretary of the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), stated the Department of Labor (DOL) has reviewed the CFTC's final business conduct standards. She stated the DOL has concluded the final standards do not require swap dealers or major swap participants to engage in activities that would make them fiduciaries under the DOL's current five-part test defining fiduciary advice. In the DOL's view, the CFTC's final conduct standards neither conflict with the DOL's existing regulations, nor compel swap dealers or major swap participants to engage in fiduciary conduct.