The Labor Department published 2 batches of guidance aimed at investors and the wealth-adviser industry over the new rule on retirement-savings advice, a move that keeps the so-called fiduciary rule’s April implementation deadline on track amid mounting Republican opposition.

The fiduciary rule, unveiled last spring, requires brokers and advisers who work with tax-advantaged retirement savings to work in the best interest of their clients and generally avoid conflicts of interest, which can arise with commission-based compensation. Previously, professionals were held to a less-rigorous standard that required only suitable advice.

ONE LIST OF FAQS.   Focuses on:  (i) investor rights;  (ii) fate of commission-generating accounts;  and, (iii) advisers’ responsibilities under the fiduciary rule. The FAQs are meant to help the brokerage industry comply with the stricter standards by 4/10/17 and to continue informing investors of the coming changes.

Among other things, the FAQs highlight that the rule doesn’t require advisers move clients from commission-based accounts to fee-based accounts – addressing concerns that smaller investors who do few annual trades will wind up paying more in fees than they might in commissions.

And, when it comes to defining “best interest,” the Labor Department said advisers’ obligation isn’t perfection, but rather that he or she “make recommendations that adhere to a professional standard of care and that are based on your financial interest, without regard to his or her own competing financial interests.”

SECOND LIST OF FAQS.     Focuses on technical compliance issues, clarifying types of investment recommendations and communications bound by the rule and discussing how the rule treats 3rd-party administrators.

Despite uncertainty over the rule’s fate, many brokers are moving forward with efforts to comply with the more rigorous standard come April. As such, the industry has been anticipating the FAQs issued by the Labor Department for more clarity on the rule’s reach, the terms of its exemptions and investors’ potential recourse if they feel their best interest wasn’t served.

Conflict of Interest FAQs (Part I - Exemptions) (October 2016)

Conflict of Interest FAQs (Part II - RULE) (January 2017)

Consumer Protections for Retirement Investors - FAQs on Your Rights & Financial Advisers (January 2017)