Conversation with Former SEC Chief Economist Dr. Jessica Wachter on Investment Management Rulemaking at the Commission – PE Pathways
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Forfeitures Under Fire
5 Key Takeaways | IRS Final RMD Rules & Proposed Regulations to Address SECURE 2.0 Act Issues
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - New IRS Guidance on SECURE 2.0 Act Student Loan Employer Contributions
Long-Term Part-Time Employee Eligibility Rules Now in Effect — Troutman Pepper Podcast
What Can A Tax Attorney Do For You? A Podcast With Janathan Allen
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Auto-Portability: A New Way to Keep Retirement Savings Growing
#WorkforceWednesday: SECURE Act 2.0 - What 401(k) Plan Sponsors Need to Know - Employment Law This Week®
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Plan Administrators’ 2022 Year-End Checklist
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Court Decisions Impacting Plan Sponsors and Fiduciaries
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Helping Employers Address the Gender Gap in Retirement Savings
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Millennials, Boomers and Retirement Planning
The Form 5500: What All Employers and Plan Administrators Need to Know and How to Avoid Costly Fines
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Cryptocurrency in 401(k) Plans
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - What Constitutes Plan Assets Under ERISA?
2022 Resolutions: What Healthcare Practices Need To Tackle In the New Year
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Cautionary Tales for Preapproved Plan Documents
DOL Clarifies Timing of Lifetime Income Disclosures in Benefit Statements
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Back to the Future: SECURE Act and SECURE Act 2.0
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Payroll Integration for Plan Sponsors
What You Need to Know - The Trump Administration has shifted away from Biden-era rules related to certain investments, like alternative asset investments, ESG, and cryptocurrency in 401(k) plans....more
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently announced two significant changes to 401(k) plan investments, signaling an increase in latitude for fiduciaries who wish to make available cryptocurrency investments in their plans...more
As anticipated, the Department of Labor (DOL) recently changed its position with respect to certain investment choices that 401(k) plan fiduciaries sometimes consider or make available to plan participants, including...more
On January 10, 2025, in Spence v. American Airlines, a federal district court in Texas ruled that American Airlines (the company) and the committee overseeing its 401(k) plans (the committee) breached their duty of loyalty...more
Following a bench trial, on January 10, 2025, Judge Reed O’Connor of the US District Court of the Northern District of Texas held that the managers of a company’s 401(k) retirement plans had breached their fiduciary duty by...more
On January 10th, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas (the court) ruled that American Airlines, Inc. (American) and the American Airlines Employee Benefits Committee (together, the Defendants)...more
On January 10, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas issued an opinion in Spence v. Am. Airlines, Inc. (N.D. Tex. Jan. 10, 2025) holding that fiduciaries of two American Airlines 401(k) plans...more
On January 10, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas found that American Airlines and its employee benefit committee (EBC) breached their fiduciary duty of loyalty under the Employee Retirement...more
Last week, Judge Reed O’Connor of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, issued the first-of-its-kind ruling on the merits pertaining to environmental, social, and corporate governance (“ESG”) investing...more
Whether, and the extent to which, a plan fiduciary can consider nonpecuniary environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) objectives in selecting plan investments has been a hot-button issue for many years, with the view on...more
On January 10, 2025, Judge Reed O’Connor of the Northern District of Texas issued a much-anticipated ruling in Spence v. American Airlines, Inc., which marks the first time that a federal judge has written an on-the-merits...more
Following a bench trial, Judge O'Connor (N.D. Tex.) held that “that Defendants breached their fiduciary duty by failing to loyally act solely in the retirement plan's best financial interests by allowing their corporate...more
A recent summary judgment decision from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas in an ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act) class action challenging the alleged impact of environmental, social,...more
Case Name and Number: Spence v. American Airlines, Inc., et al., No. 4:23-cv-00552 - INTRODUCTION - On June 20, 2024, Judge Reed O’Connor in the Northern District of Texas (the “court”) denied a motion for summary...more
ESG stands for “environmental, social, and governance.” Though often overlooked, two recent cases — Spence v. American Airlines and Exxon v. Arjuna Capital, LLC — focus on G’s place in the ESG initialism. Here, we break...more
Recently, a Texas federal court denied the defendants' motion to dismiss in a lawsuit featuring allegations that an employer's 401(k) plan, which allegedly relied on ESG principles when making investments, violated ERISA. ...more
Case Name and Number: Spence v. American Airlines, Inc., et al., No. 4:23-cv-00552 - Introduction - On February 21, 2024, Judge Reed O’Connor in the Northern District of Texas (the “Court”) denied a motion to dismiss an...more
A Texas federal judge recently permitted an environmental, social, and governance- (ESG) related Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) case filed by an airline pilot against his employer and its benefits plan to...more
In August 2023, American Airlines, Inc. moved to dismiss a class action lawsuit filed against the airline for allegedly jeopardizing employees’ retirement savings by investing in environmental, social and governance (ESG)...more
Republicans at the state and federal levels are challenging a Biden administration rule (the "Rule") intended to walk back Trump-era regulations restricting the ability of retirement fund managers to consider climate change...more
The March Monthly Minute highlights new proposed deadlines for use of retirement plan forfeitures, unsuccessful efforts to overturn the final ESG rule, and ACA penalty increases for 2024. Sorry Not Sorry: Biden Vetoes...more
On Jan. 26, 2023, twenty-four states sued the Department of Labor to block a new rule allowing retirement plans to consider environmental, social, and governance concepts (known as ESG) when administering plan assets. The...more
My wife forwarded me an op-ed piece, criticizing the Biden administration rule change on ESG investments in 401(k) plans. Obviously, the person writing it doesn’t understand how 401(k) plans work. ...more
Last year the Department of Labor (“DOL”) proposed changes to ERISA regulations that govern the consideration of environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) factors in retirement plans, as well as fiduciary...more
In November, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued a final rule (Final Rule) that will remove certain restrictions on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations in plan investments. These restrictions were...more