The recent release of the “fiduciary rule” from the Department of Labor is being hailed as a boon to consumers. Conflicts of interest in the retirement advice industry are supposed to be a thing of the best. But will they be?

Many consumers seek guidance from a brokerage firm. You know them well – Morgan Stanley, Ameriprise, Merrill Lynch, Prudential, etc. These firms provide, um, “advice” for “free.” But we all know there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Said free advice is thinly-veiled marketing material for high-priced products they want to sell to you such as load mutual funds, annuities and life insurance contracts.

The “fiduciary rule” is supposed to benefit consumers. Will it . . . or have the product-pushers dodged a bullet?

Insurance companies, mutual fund families and broker-dealers will breathe easy. Virtually all of the products they sell (where conflicts are a given) will still be allowed under the new rule so long as additional disclosures are made and a “Best Interest Contract Exemption” (or “BICE”) is signed off on by the client. Put another way you’ll have to grant your permission to be a sucker.

Not you of course. You’ll put a lot of time and thought into the decision, right? How quickly do you click “agree” before a software update or downloading an app? Hmmm . . .

If you’re an existing client of one of these firms you don’t even need to agree. You’ll simply receive written notification in the mail. Surely you’ll parse through it line by line as you do when you receive 35 pages of small font, single-spaced print from AmEx about a change to their privacy policy. Ha!

Products aren’t the only area where the product-pushers received a pass. Marketing is another. These firms and their “advisors” will still be able to provide marketing materials without showing the information contained therein meets a fiduciary test. The same will apply to general market commentary and public appearances (i.e. the talking heads who make guest appearances on CNBC) so long as individualized advice is not being given.