News & Analysis as of

Biden Administration Retirement Plan Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA)

Latham & Watkins LLP

US Government Reopens Discussion of Private Pension Investments Expectations

Latham & Watkins LLP on

The Department of Labor has taken two recent actions that indicate where the approach to retirement investment policy may go under the new administration....more

Morgan Lewis - ML Benefits

US Administration Announces Intent to Replace Biden-Era ESG Rule

The US Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) position on the appropriateness of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing strategies in ERISA-regulated retirement plans has ping-ponged for decades (as we’ve covered...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

ESG Investing in 401(k) Plans – More Rule Changes on the Way

Troutman Pepper Locke on

In our recent client alert, “Texas Federal Court Allows an ERISA Fiduciary Challenge Against Alleged “ESG Investing” Without Any ESG Funds,” we reported that a Texas district court recently upheld Biden-administration...more

Ropes & Gray LLP

Trump DOL Withdraws Biden-Era ESG Rule and Crypto Guidance for ERISA Plans

Ropes & Gray LLP on

On May 28, 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) began to articulate the Trump administration’s retirement policy priorities with its decisions to (i) end its defense of the Biden-era ESG rule in a long-running lawsuit...more

Carlton Fields

DOL ESG Rule Withstands Demolition of Chevron Deference

Carlton Fields on

In Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, the U.S. Supreme Court knocked down Chevron U.S.A. Inc. v. Natural Resources Defense Council Inc., leaving the doctrine of Chevron deference in rubble. The doctrine stated that, when a...more

ArentFox Schiff

ESG Update: Texas Federal Court Cites Loper Bright in Upholding Biden-Era ESG 401(k) Investing Rule

ArentFox Schiff on

A Biden-era US Department of Labor (DOL) Rule permitting consideration of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors when choosing investments as a “tiebreaker” was recently upheld by Texas federal Judge Matthew...more

Nossaman LLP

Relying on Loper, Fifth Circuit Sends Chevron-based decision Back to District Court, calling ESG Rule into Question

Nossaman LLP on

On July 18, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (“Fifth Circuit”) vacated a decision by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas (“District Court”) that upheld the U.S. Department of Labor’s...more

ArentFox Schiff

Biden Administration Issues Final Rule Expanding ERISA Fiduciary Definition, Enhancing Protections for Pension Plan Participants

ArentFox Schiff on

On April 23, the US Department of Labor (DOL) released a final rule significantly expanding the definition of who qualifies as a fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) (the Retirement Security...more

Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP

Department of Labor’s Fiduciary Rule 4.0 proposal

On October 31, 2023, following its announcement by President Biden, the US Department of Labor (DOL or Department) released its Proposal 4.0 regarding ERISA fiduciary investment advice, including amended exemptions for...more

Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck

Updated Retirement Fiduciary Guidance Issued by Biden Administration

On Oct. 31, 2023, the Biden administration released its long-awaited revision to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) fiduciary rule. These regulations define fiduciaries and outline what transactions are...more

Mintz

Biden Administration's DOL Rule Enabling Investment Advisors to Consider ESG Factors Survives Judicial Challenge

Mintz on

On September 21, 2023, Judge Kacsmaryk (N.D. Texas), a famously conservative Trump-appointed jurist, upheld a Department of Labor rule promulgated by the Biden Administration that enables employee retirement plans to consider...more

Jones Day

Congressional Republicans and State Attorneys General Challenge Biden Administration's ESG 401(k) Rule

Jones Day on

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

Brooks Pierce

SECURE 2.0: Recent Changes to Retirement Plan Laws

Brooks Pierce on

While most of us were busy preparing for the holidays and making New Year’s resolutions, Congress and President Biden were busy rolling out new retirement plan legislation. On Dec. 22 and Dec. 23, respectively, the Senate and...more

Holland & Knight LLP

DOL Issues Final Rule on Climate Change, ESG Factors for Retirement Plan Investments

Holland & Knight LLP on

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) on Nov. 22, 2022, announced its adoption of amendments to the regulation setting out retirement plan fiduciary duties of prudence and loyalty under the Employee Retirement Income Security...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

I don’t get the push for ESG

While the Biden-led Department of Labor (DOL) has given the green light for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) funds within 401(k) plans, I don’t get the push....more

Holland & Knight LLP

DOL Requests Information on Protection of Retirement Plans from Climate Risks

Holland & Knight LLP on

The Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) on Feb. 14, 2022, issued a Request for Information (RFI) to gather input regarding the protection of pensions and retirement savings...more

Fisher Phillips

Top 10 Workplace Law Predictions for 2022

Fisher Phillips on

Workplace law has changed dramatically over the past two years of the pandemic. Unfortunately, 2022 (or is it “2020 too”?) is shaping up to be another year full of new rules and regulations within this volatile area of law....more

McDermott Will & Schulte

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Investing for Retirement Plans: Where We’ve Been, and Where We Are Now

McDermott Will & Schulte on

Over the past year, the regulatory backdrop around environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing has shifted. As McDermott Partner Brian J. Tiemann explains in these slides, the US Department of Labor (DOL) under the...more

Latham & Watkins LLP

US Department of Labor Puts ESG Investing Back on the Menu

Latham & Watkins LLP on

A new proposal would amend changes made to ERISA less than a year ago that have proved to be detrimental to ESG investing. In a sweeping reversal of Trump-era policies, the US Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Biden administration to implement Trump Fiduciary Rule

In what I consider a surprise move, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced that it will allow a Trump-era exemption for investment advice fiduciaries to move forward. ...more

Mintz - Securities & Capital Markets...

Not So Fast: DOL Changes Course on Trump-Era ESG Investment Rule

The United States Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) Employee Benefits Security Administration (“EBSA”) announced on March 10, 2021 that it will not enforce certain final rules put into place under President Trump related to...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Expect ESG rule to be overturned

The Biden administration will review the Department of Labor (DOL) rule stipulating that ERISA plan fiduciaries can’t invest in “non-pecuniary” vehicles that sacrifice investment returns or take on additional risk. This rule...more

Morgan Lewis

ERISA Fiduciaries Under a Biden Labor Department: What Is on the Horizon?

Morgan Lewis on

President Joe Biden has been in office for 34 days and his nominee for Secretary of Labor, Marty Walsh, has not yet been confirmed. So far, Mr. Walsh has not publicly stated much regarding his views or intended priorities...more

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive...

DOL Finalizes New Prohibited Transaction Exemption for “Investment Advice”, With Statement That Fiduciary Standard May Apply to...

On December 18, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (the “DOL”) published in the Federal Register a final prohibited transaction class exemption (the “Exemption”) that allows “investment advice” fiduciaries to provide advice...more

Bracewell LLP

What Labor Nominee Martin Walsh Means for the Future of the Fiduciary Rule

Bracewell LLP on

On January 7, 2021, President-elect Joe Biden named Boston Mayor Martin Walsh as his nominee for Secretary of Labor. Walsh’s nomination raises questions for the future of the Labor Department’s (“DOL’s”) “fiduciary rule,”...more

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