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Fiduciary Duty Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) Digital Assets

Miller Canfield

New Executive Order Seeks to Facilitate Alternative Investments in 401(k) Plans

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On August 7, 2025, President Trump signed an Executive Order titled “Democratizing Access to Alternative Assets for 401(k) Investors.” This Executive Order has the potential to significantly change how retirement savings...more

Troutman Pepper Locke

Retirement Revolution: Expanding Access to Private Credit in 401(k)s

Troutman Pepper Locke on

On August 7, President Donald Trump issued an executive order directing federal agencies, particularly the Department of Labor, to work on expanding access to alternative investments for participants in 401(k) and other...more

Ballard Spahr LLP

Executive Order Seeks to Expand Access to Crypto and Private Investments in Defined-Contribution Plans

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On August 7, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order (the Order) instructing federal agencies to expand access to alternative asset investments for participants in defined-contribution retirement plans such as 401(k)...more

Verrill

Coming Soon to Your 401(k) Plan: Tontines and Other Exotic Investments!

Verrill on

Participants in 401(k) plans and other defined contribution retirement plans may soon have the opportunity to invest their plan accounts in a variety of high-risk and potentially high-return assets. Touted as an effort to...more

McGuireWoods LLP

The Thoughtful Fiduciary’s Guide to Alternative Assets for 401(k) Investors

McGuireWoods LLP on

President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order on Aug. 7, 2025, expanding access for 401(k) plan investors to alternative assets. This alert provides a summary of what the order does and does not do, and offers fiduciaries...more

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

Is Your Defined Contribution Plan Ready for Alternative Assets?

President Trump has issued an Executive Order ("Order") to enable defined contribution plans (e.g. 401(k) and 403(b) plans) to invest in "alternative assets," such as private equity, real estate and digital assets. The Order...more

Carlton Fields

Plan Sponsor and Asset Manager Considerations Under 401(k) Alternatives Executive Order

Carlton Fields on

On August 7, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order titled “Democratizing Access to Alternative Assets for 401(k) Investors,” designed to open the use of alternative investments, including private equity and actively...more

King & Spalding

Executive Order Seeks to Promote Incorporation of Alternative Assets in 401(k) Plans

King & Spalding on

On August 7, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order entitled “Democratizing Access to Alternative Assets for 401(k) Investors” (the “Executive Order”),1 requiring the Department of Labor (“DOL”) and the Securities...more

Goodwin

Trump Administration’s Executive Order to Facilitate Availability of Alternative Assets in Defined Contribution Plans: What Does...

Goodwin on

On August 7, 2025, the Trump Administration issued a long-awaited executive order (the “Executive Order”) to encourage sponsors of 401(k) and other participant-directed defined-contribution plans that are governed by the...more

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

Democratizing Access To Alternative Assets For 401(K) Investors (Trump EO Tracker)

This executive order directs the Department of Labor to reevaluate and clarify its guidance under ERISA regarding fiduciary duties related to including alternative assets in 401(k) retirement plans. It aims to expand access...more

Lathrop GPM

New Executive Order Opens the Door for Alternative Assets as 401(k) Plan Options

Lathrop GPM on

On August 7, 2025, President Trump signed an Executive Order entitled, Democratizing Access to Alternative Assets for 401(K) Investors (“the EO”), which directs the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department...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

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

K&L Gates LLP on

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

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

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

Harris Beach Murtha PLLC

DOL Raises “Serious Concerns” About 401(k) Plan Investments in Cryptocurrencies

On March 10, 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued Compliance Assistance Release No. 2022-01 (the “Release”, available here) which cautions ERISA plan fiduciaries to exercise “extreme care” before they consider...more

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

DOL Warns Sponsors against Permitting Cryptocurrency-Related Investments on 401(k) Plan Investment Menus

The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) last month issued Compliance Assistance Release No. 2022-1 - 401(k) Plan Investments in “Cryptocurrencies” (the “Release”) in which it strongly cautions ERISA plan fiduciaries to use...more

Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP

Fiduciaries versus FOMO: Department of Labor Releases 401(k) Cryptocurrency Guidance

Regulators may be nervous about workers staking their retirements on crypto. The United States Department Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (the “DOL”) recently issued Compliance Assistance Release No. 2022-01...more

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