News & Analysis as of

Fiduciary Duty Digital Assets

Snell & Wilmer

A Return to Form: Department of Labor Walks Back Crypto Warning for 401(k) Plans

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In Compliance Assistance Release 2025-01 (the “Release”), the Department of Labor (the “Department”) rescinded its prior guidance that cautioned fiduciaries against offering cryptocurrency investments in their retirement...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

Federal Agencies Release Guidance on Crypto-Asset Safekeeping for Banks

Troutman Pepper Locke on

On July 14, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (the Board), and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) jointly issued a statement addressing the...more

Polsinelli

DOL Rescinds 2022 Guidance Concerning Cryptocurrency Investments in 401(k) Plans

Polsinelli on

On May 28, 2025, the Department of Labor (DOL) rescinded its 2022 guidance that cautioned retirement plan fiduciaries to exercise “extreme care” in permitting cryptocurrency and other digital asset investments in retirement...more

Mayer Brown

A Return to Investment Neutrality? DOL Rescinds Guidance Discouraging Plan Fiduciaries from Considering Cryptocurrencies

Mayer Brown on

On May 28, 2025, the US Department of Labor (the “Labor Department”) issued Compliance Assistance Release No. 2025-01 (the “2025 Release”), memorializing the Labor Department’s decision to rescind Compliance Release No....more

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

U.S. Department of Labor Withdraws 2022 Crypto Guidance—What It Means for 401(k) Plan Fiduciaries

Crypto may be back on the table for 401(k) plans, but fiduciary duties remain as demanding as ever. On May 28, 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor Employee Benefits Security Administration (DOL) issued Compliance Assistance...more

K&L Gates LLP

United States: Department of Labor ESG and Cryptocurrency-Related Matters

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The Department of Labor will engage in new rulemaking to replace Biden era regulations labeled “Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments and Exercising Shareholder Rights” that allowed plan fiduciaries may consider...more

Seward & Kissel LLP

401(k) Plan Investments in Digital Assets

Seward & Kissel LLP on

The Department of Labor (“DOL”) recently issued Compliance Assistance Release No. 2025-01 (the “Release”), reversing previous guidance that cautioned plan fiduciaries offering investments in digital assets in...more

A&O Shearman

Crypto in and ESG out—DOL changes to 401(k) plan governance

A&O Shearman on

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

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Cryptocurrency in 401(k): A Balanced Approach Returns

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

On May 28, 2025, the DOL released Compliance Assistance Release No. 2025-01. The 2025 CAR rescinds the DOL’s previous Compliance Assistance Release No. 2022-01 (2022 CAR), issued in 2022, which indicated an unfavorable DOL...more

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive...

DOL Rescinds 2022 Guidance Cautioning Against 401(k) Plan Investments in Cryptocurrencies

On May 28, 2025, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued Compliance Assistance Release No. 2025-01 which rescinds the DOL’s prior Compliance Assistance Release No. 2022-1 which had warned 401(k) plan fiduciaries against adding...more

Woods Rogers

ESBA No Longer Discourages Crypto Investments in 401(k) Plans

Woods Rogers on

Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) Rescinds Prior Guidance Limiting 401(k) Plan Investments in Cryptocurrencies Since March of 2022, the Department of Labor (DOL) operated under the guidance of the Compliance...more

SEC Compliance Consultants, Inc. (SEC³)

February and March 2025 Regulatory Roundup

SEC Clarifies Marketing Rule, Warms up to Crypto and Private Placements under 506(c), and Backs off Form SHO; Latest Lessons from EXAMS: Duty of Care and Risk Identification Failures - Welcome to our February and March 2025...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Advisors aren’t sold on Bitcoin

On whether to recommend Bitcoin and other digital assets for clients, financial advisers are wary about their fiduciary duty to clients, according to a CoinShares survey....more

Snell & Wilmer

SEC Division of Examinations Priorities for 2025: Examinations Will Prioritize New Rules for Form PF and Regulation S-P, Fiduciary...

Snell & Wilmer on

On October 21, 2024, the Division of Examinations (the “Division”) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) issued its annual examination priorities for fiscal year 2025. As with its 2024 examination...more

Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP

Wyoming SF 96 amends regulations for banks offering custodial or fiduciary services for digital assets

On March 15, the Governor of Wyoming signed SF 96 (the “Act”), which amended regulations for banks offering custodial or fiduciary services for digital assets, made conforming adjustments, and set an effective date. The Act...more

Conyers

B2B, B2C, BVI – Crypto Disputes in the Caribbean

Conyers on

In the crypto world, does it really matter where you are? Is there a sunny offshore paradise perspective on the click of a button and a fintech trade? The answer lies as usual in how to unravel a problem should it arise. Both...more

Stark & Stark

Bitcoin and Investment Advisers

Stark & Stark on

With recent developments in the regulatory, legal, and compliance landscape surrounding Bitcoin and a spot Bitcoin ETF (i.e., an ETF backed by physical Bitcoins. If the value of the digital coins backing the ETF rises, the...more

Kerr Russell

A Fair Warning: 401(k) Plan Sponsors May be Hard-Pressed to Defend Addition of Cryptocurrency Investment Option

Kerr Russell on

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published guidance earlier this year warning fiduciaries who administer retirement plans to “exercise extreme care” when considering whether to include cryptocurrency as a plan investment...more

Walkers

Issues and Strategies: Trustees, Digital Assets and Fiduciary Duties

Walkers on

Notwithstanding the turbulent past few months, which have seen roughly $2 trillion worth of value disappear from the digital asset ecosystem, we are still seeing an increase in enquiries by high net worth individuals...more

Polsinelli

Former OpenSea Employee Charged with Wire Fraud and Money Laundering in First Ever “Digital Asset Insider Trading” Scheme

Polsinelli on

A former employee of OpenSea, the largest marketplace for the purchase and sale of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), has been indicted and charged with wire fraud and money laundering allegedly in connection with actions he took...more

Latham & Watkins LLP

UK High Court Rules on Liability of Bitcoin Software Developers

Latham & Watkins LLP on

The Court held that software developers do not owe a duty of care to bitcoin owners who lost their private keys. In Tulip Trading Ltd (TTL) v. Bitcoin Association for BSV and others, TTL claimed that personal computers of...more

Verrill

Department of Labor Guidance and Federal Initiatives Counsel a Wait-and-See Approach for 401(k) Plan Fiduciaries Interested in...

Verrill on

On March 10, 2022, the Department of Labor published Compliance Assistance Release 2022-01, 401(k) Plan Investments in “Cryptocurrencies”. The Release strongly discourages the addition of cryptocurrency (and other digital...more

Lathrop GPM

Cryptocurrency as a 401(K) Plan Investment Option

Lathrop GPM on

Fidelity Investments recently announced it is making a Bitcoin account available as an investment option for 401(k) plans, fueling a debate about cryptocurrencies and fiduciary responsibilities under ERISA. In what might...more

Goodwin

Cryptocurrencies As Investment Options In 401(k) Plans

Goodwin on

On March 10, 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued a Compliance Assistance Release (the “Release”) addressing its views on the availability of cryptocurrencies on 401(k) investment platforms. This guidance comes...more

Proskauer - Blockchain and the Law

From Cryptic to (Some) Clarity: English Law and Policy Rising to the Challenge of Cryptoassets (Part 2)

In the first part of this series of articles, we examined the progress of English law to shape and build an infrastructure to support the development of a secure and certain environment for investment in digital assets. We...more

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