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Department of Labor (DOL) Fiduciary Duty Corporate Governance

Mintz

Biden Administration's DOL Rule Permitting ESG Investments Survives Legal Challenge

Mintz on

4 Last week, a federal district judge in the Northern District of Texas upheld a rule promulgated by the Biden Administration's Department of Labor enabling ESG-focused investing. Specifically, the court determined that the...more

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive...

401(k) Plan Fiduciaries Breached ERISA’s Duty of Loyalty By Allowing ESG Interests To Influence Management Of The Plan

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

Goodwin

Minding the Store: Unanticipated ESG Issues Affecting ERISA Fiduciary Supervision

Goodwin on

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

Paul Hastings LLP

Pecuniary vs. Nonpecuniary Factors: Understanding the Potential Scope of Anti-ESG Restrictions in U.S. State Laws

Paul Hastings LLP on

Executive Summary and Overview- State anti-ESG lawmakers have enacted legislation aimed at restricting investors from considering ESG factors in their investment strategies and decisions by requiring state financial...more

ArentFox Schiff

Airline 401k Decision Illustrates Continued Takeoff of ESG Litigation

ArentFox Schiff on

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

Holland & Hart - The Benefits Dial

The Time Has Come, A Fact’s A Fact: Consider Adding a Welfare Plan Committee

The time may have come to add a welfare plan committee to your company’s governance of employee benefit plans. New legal obligations and other developments impose fiduciary risks for welfare plans similar to what already...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

ESG: Important New Considerations for Employers

Consideration of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues is becoming increasingly important for companies when conducting business and in dealings with investors and employees. The increased emphasis on ESG poses...more

Holland & Hart - The Benefits Dial

Should I Pay Or Should I No(t) Now: Which Expenses Can be Paid with Plan Assets?

One question that often comes up is whether an expense related to an ERISA plan can be paid with plan assets. The decision of whether to use ERISA plan assets to pay an expense is an ERISA fiduciary decision. With the recent...more

Fisher Phillips

Tides Have Turned: 4 Key Takeaways for Employers as Labor Department Clears Way for ESG-Focused Investment Options

Fisher Phillips on

The tides can turn quickly in the world of workplace law, and employers who operate as plan fiduciaries for their employees’ retirement investments can now shift their thinking thanks to the latest development. While the...more

Holland & Hart - The Benefits Dial

What Happens in a Small Town Stays in a Small Town … Until the DOL Doubles Down on Mental Health Parity Compliance

The Department of Labor (DOL), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Department of Treasury (collectively, the Departments) recently issued their joint report to Congress regarding their Mental Health...more

Goodwin

ISS Publishes 2021 Proxy Voting Guidelines

Goodwin on

In the News. Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) published its proxy voting guidelines updates for 2021, which include new and updated voting recommendations on federal forum and exclusive forum provisions in companies’...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

U.S. Labor Department Tells Retirement Plans to Focus on the Money, Not Environmental or Social Issues

The U.S. Department of Labor recently finalized regulations that are likely to limit the use of retirement investments focused on environmental and social issues. On October 30, DOL issued a rule entitled “Financial Factors...more

Mayer Brown Free Writings + Perspectives

The Department of Labor’s ESG-less Final ESG Rule

On October 30, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) released its final regulation (“Final Rule”) relating to a fiduciary’s consideration of environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) factors when making investment...more

Latham & Watkins LLP

US Department of Labor Puts ESG Investing on Ice

Latham & Watkins LLP on

In its finalized rule amending ERISA, the DOL makes financial factors paramount in a fiduciary’s responsibility to investors. On October 30, 2020, the US Department of Labor (DOL) published Financial Factors in Selecting...more

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

Orrick's Financial Industry Week In Review

ESMA Asks European Commission to Clarify Scope of Exemptions from EMIR Financial Obligations - On April 27, 2018, the European Securities and Markets Authority ("ESMA") published a letter from Steven Maijoor, ESMA Chair,...more

Cooley LLP

Blog: Will the DOL put the kibosh on ESG investing?

Cooley LLP on

It would be hard to miss the increased focus of investors—especially institutional investors—on environmental, social and governance issues. From multiple surveys showing the importance to investors of ESG factors to...more

Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

DOL Issues New Guidance for ESG Investing by Plan Fiduciaries

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), which oversees Employee Retirement Income Security Act-covered (ERISA) employee benefit plans, recently released new regulatory guidance "clarifying" that "fiduciaries may not sacrifice...more

McDermott Will & Schulte

Corporate Law & Governance Update - February 2017

THE #1 FIDUCIARY DUTY ISSUE OF 2017 - Positioning boards to exercise heightened engagement within the current “climate of uncertainty” is possibly the most important health system governance challenge of 2017. To...more

Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP

Nutter Bank Report, April 2016

The Nutter Bank Report is a monthly publication of the firm's Banking and Financial Services Group. Headlines 1. FDIC Approves Proposed Rule to Limit Incentive-Based Compensation Arrangements 2. Congress Considers...more

Goodwin

Financial Services Weekly News - April 2016

Goodwin on

Regulatory Developments - DOL Issues Final Fiduciary Rule - On April 6, the Department of Labor (DOL) unveiled its pre-publication final version of the long-awaited fiduciary rule (the Final Rule). Some of the more...more

Allen Matkins

I’m Guessing That The DOL Didn’t Have in Mind Negative Weighing OF ESG Factors

Allen Matkins on

In this post, I noted a recent study by Professor Tracie Woidtke at the University of Tennessee concluding that social-issue shareholder-proposal activism appears to be negatively related to firm value. I therefore raised...more

Benesch

Perspectives - September/October 2015

Benesch on

In a decision in which no opinion commanded a majority, the Ohio Supreme Court sided with a private entity — a charter school operator — in a dispute over the ownership of personal property purchased by the operator with...more

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