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Fiduciary Duty Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) Corporate Governance

Husch Blackwell LLP

ESOP Fiduciary Duties When Investing in Non-Stock Assets

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On February 6, 2025, a Pennsylvania federal judge gave preliminary approval to a $2.1 million settlement resolving a class action involving the Pride Mobility ESOP. This case is one of six brought so far—and the second to...more

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

Carlton Fields

Expect Focus - Volume I, January 2025

Carlton Fields on

The Mysterious Boundary Beyond Which “Personal” Relationships Jeopardize a Director’s Independence - In a recent enforcement action, the SEC concluded that the relationship between James Craigie and an officer of Church &...more

Paul Hastings LLP

Federal Court Determines American Airlines, Inc., 401(k) Plan Fiduciaries Breached Their ERISA Fiduciary Duty of Loyalty to...

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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

A&O Shearman

Texas District Court ESG ruling has broader implications for ERISA plan fiduciaries

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On January 10, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas (the “Court”) held, in Spence v. American Airlines, Inc., that American Airlines (“American”) and the American Airlines Employee Benefits...more

A&O Shearman

ESG Investing Takes A Blow In Texas Federal Court

A&O Shearman on

On January 10, 2025, Judge Reed O’Connor of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas ruled, following a four-day bench trial, that an airline breached ERISA fiduciary duties when investing...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

Ropes & Gray LLP

Practical Takeaways from Spence v. American Airlines, Inc. for ERISA Plan Fiduciaries

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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

Saul Ewing LLP

Organizing Your Company’s Health and Welfare Plans Part 1: Creating a Framework

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Following the flurry of regulatory guidance and informal comments from officials at the Employee Benefits Security Administration, and other agencies of the Federal government, health and welfare plans should be a primary...more

Mintz

Federal Court Rules ESG-Guided Investing of 401(k) Plan Is a Breach of Fiduciary Duty

Mintz on

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

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

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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?

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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

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