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Bailey McCann, Opalesque New York:

Another judge has refused to delay the implementation of the US Department of Labor's fiduciary rule. The rule, which assigns a fiduciary standard of care to some investment advisory relationships, has been under attack by the investment industry since the rule was first proposed. Now, for the second time in one month, litigants have failed to delay implementation after the fact.

In a ruling released Monday afternoon, U.S. District Judge Daniel Crabtree essentially said that the rule's potential impact on the business model of some financial services companies wasn't a sufficient condition to stall implementation, which is slated for April 2017.

Monday's case was brought by Market Synergy Group, an insurer and annuity provider based in Topeka, Kansas. The insurer asked for a preliminary injunction to stop the rule from being implemented, writing in its complaint that the Department of Labor violated procedures under the Administrative Procedures Act and Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 when it put fixed indexed annuities under the rule’s best interest contract exemption. The lawsuit was filed in June alongside four others after the rule was approved.

Judge Crabtree wrote in his opinion that he found it unlikely that the insurer could prove its case on the merits.

Crabtree's ruling is the se......................

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