Choosing a Trustee: Navigating the Complexities and Key Considerations
Five Tips for a New Public Company Director
Sunday Book Review: June 15, 2025. The Books on Corporate Governance Edition
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Forfeitures Under Fire
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Navigating Fiduciary Responsibilities in a Tide-Turning ESG Era
How ERISA Litigators Strengthen Plan Compliance and Risk Management: One-on-One with Jeb Gerth
What happens when a majority owner makes a bad-faith capital call?
#WorkforceWednesday®: New DOL Guidance - ERISA Plan Cybersecurity Update - Employment Law This Week®
John Wick - What You Need To Know about the Corporate Transparency Act
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - ERISA Forfeiture Litigation
Once Removed Episode 24: Expressing Goals and Intent for the Trust
Episode 322 -- Checking in on Caremark Cases
What Can A Tax Attorney Do For You? A Podcast With Janathan Allen
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - New Federal Rule Aims to Hold Investment Advisors to a Higher Standard
A Primer On Trusts - A Podcast with Janathan Allen
Podcast - Deberes fiduciarios de los administradores
New SEC Private Funds Rules – What Is Happening and What You Need to Know - Troutman Pepper Podcast
Podcast Episode 189: Adding Context to Compliance and Color To Your Legal Practice
BVI Companies and M&A
Basics of Impact Investing: A Conversation About Investment Policies and Evaluation Metrics For ESG Investors
A terminated employee moves and doesn’t tell you and the check for the small benefit forced out of your retirement plan gets returned. A participant requests a distribution and the check gets delivered, but it is never...more
If there’s a Mount Rushmore of ERISA class-action litigators, you better believe Jerry Schlichter’s face is carved into it—probably right next to a 408(b)(2) disclosure and a stack of mutual fund fee charts. And once again,...more
The DOL recently updated the Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program (VFCP). The VFCP encourages employers to voluntarily correct certain violations of ERISA to avoid DOL civil enforcement penalties....more
On January 14, 2025, the DOL issued Field Assistance Bulletin (FAB) 2025-01, providing sponsors and administrators of ongoing defined contribution plans with a new option for missing participant balances of $1,000 or less:...more
ISSUES AFFECTING ALL SCHEMES - PENSION SCAMS – MEMBER LEAFLET - The Pensions Regulator (TPR) has updated its member leaflet on pension scams so that it is branded from the Pension Scams Action Group rather than TPR. The...more
A “sales gimmick” is a term that refers to a method a business employs to immediately generate demand for its product or service. I just bought Fan Fest tickets 6 months in advance because they were giving me a $30...more
On October 31, the Department of Labor (DOL) released a proposed rule (the Proposed Rule) aiming to redefine and expand who qualifies as an “investment advice fiduciary” under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of...more
The DOL’s expanded definition of fiduciary advice is described in the preamble to PTE 2020-02. The PTE then provides relief for conflicted non-discretionary recommendations (for example, rollover recommendations), if its...more
A federal district court in Maryland recently declined to certify an interlocutory appeal to the Fourth Circuit on the issue of whether financial institutions can “hardwire” a preference for their own proprietary investment...more
Overview: In general, the prohibited transaction rules (in ERISA and the Tax Code) (1) prohibit fiduciaries that provide investment advice to plans subject to Title I of ERISA (including 401(k) plans, pension plans and...more
The Department of Labor’s Proposed Prohibited Transaction Exemption and Its Impact on Recommendations to Plans, Participants and IRAs (Part 3): Investment Adviser Considerations - On December 18, 2020, the DOL issued its...more
On June 29, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (the Department) formally reinstated its “five-part test” for determining what constitutes “investment advice” under ERISA and Section 4975 of the Internal Revenue Code (the...more
A New York district court granted certification in an ERISA class action brought by employees of Deutsche Bank alleging the individual fiduciaries of the company’s retirement plan engaged in self-dealing and mismanagement of...more
For the past two months, we have written about potential litigation issues under the “revised temporary” DOL Rule involving the offer and sale of annuities in the IRA market. We continue that discussion here. As in the past,...more
On June 1, new SEC Chair Clayton returned the SEC to the arena in the policy debate surrounding the DOL’s Fiduciary Rule. Clayton’s public statement responded to a direct invitation for SEC participation by DOL Secretary...more
On February 3, 2017, President Trump issued a memorandum directing the Department of Labor to prepare an updated economic and legal analysis of its “Fiduciary Rule.” Compliance with the Fiduciary Rule is generally required on...more
Under current law, stockbrokers are only required to recommend suitable investments to their clients. The Department of Labor has issued a so called “fiduciary rule” which requires brokers, advisors and insurance agents, when...more
The December 22 announcement that Deutsche Bank had settled with the DOJ over long-standing RMBS-related claims and investigations for a reported $7.2 billion prompted this Times long-read that traced the Icarus-like rise and...more
Loyal Starwood pointers have been waiting anxiously to hear what the hotel brand’s merger with Marriott will mean for their coveted reward system. They’ll have to wait a bit longer, but here are a lot of answers to other...more
The Financial Stability Board—that Swiss-based grand collection of central bankers and regulators from the world’s biggest economies—has upped the systemic importance ranking for three of America’s biggest banks, including...more
Last week, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued long-awaited guidance in the form of answers to 34 frequently asked questions (the FAQs) on its final rule (the Rule) for determining when a party is a fiduciary, by virtue...more
Merrill Lynch has already staked out the position in response to the DOL’s retirement account fiduciary duty rule that it would no longer offer commission-based IRAs to retirement savers. Yesterday, it effectively doubled...more
- AXA Prevails at First Post-Jones v. Harris Excessive Fee Trial - Potential Secondary Effects of Regulatory Examinations: Evidentiary Issues and Preclusion in Parallel Litigation - On The Horizon: Global...more
Investment Adviser AXA Wins Excessive Fee Trial - A federal judge in New Jersey has ruled in favor of AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company (AXA Equitable) and its wholly owned subsidiary, AXA Equitable Funds Management...more
More thoughts on the Department of Labor’s new retirement adviser fiduciary duty standard, including questions about the “grassroots” movement the US Chamber of Commerce is claiming to support its opposition to the standard....more