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Fiduciary Duty Investment Environmental Social & Governance (ESG)

Mintz

Missouri AG Launches Investigation of Proxy Advisory Firms Related to Alleged ESG-Focused Recommendations

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The Missouri Attorney-General, Republican Andrew Bailey, recently announced an investigation into the two principal proxy advisory firms for potential violations of Missouri law “related to their promotion of radical...more

Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP

New DOL Guidance for Retirement Plans on Cryptocurrency and ESG Investments

The new administration has recently taken steps to revise guidance with respect to two retirement plan investment options: cryptocurrency, and funds focusing on environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) factors. These two...more

Williams Mullen

PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Navigating Fiduciary Responsibilities in a Tide-Turning ESG Era

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On this episode of Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion, host Brydon DeWitt is joined by Ken Barnes, vice president of investment consulting at SageView Advisory Group, who discusses the recent federal ruling against American...more

A&O Shearman

Texas court upholds Biden administration’s rule on ESG Investing for ERISA fiduciaries

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In a recent decision by the U.S. District Court Northern District of Texas, Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk ruled that the U.S. Department of Labor’s 2022 Rule (the 2022 Rule) on environmental, social, and governance (ESG)...more

Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP

A Plan Win in an ESG Case … For the Most Part

A New York Appellate court affirmed a dismissal of a fiduciary breach claim against the New York City Employees’ Retirement System, Teachers’ Retirement System of the City of New York, and Board of Education Retirement System...more

Verrill

Spence v. American Airlines: A Texas Court’s View of the Duty of Loyalty under ERISA

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Since we last discussed environmental, social, and corporate governance (“ESG”) developments in the context of ERISA retirement plans, ESG litigation has taken a rather unexpected turn. Although the plan lineup in Spence v....more

Mintz

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

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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

White & Case LLP

Corporate Governance Key developments

White & Case LLP on

Updated Principles of Remuneration - On the 9 October 2024, the Investment Association (‘IA’), a trade body for UK investment managers, published the Principles of Remuneration (the Principles). IA members are...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

Keating Muething & Klekamp PLL

Benefits Monthly Minute - January 2025

The January Monthly Minute highlights a recent Texas court decision holding ESG investing violated ERISA and a new development in the J&J prescription drug case that found plaintiff lacked standing to sue, and also digs into...more

A&O Shearman

ESG Investing Takes A Blow In Texas Federal Court

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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

Miller Canfield

American Airlines Breaches Fiduciary Duty of Loyalty with BlackRock ESG Funds in 401(k) Plans

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Whether, and the extent to which, a plan fiduciary can consider nonpecuniary environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) objectives in selecting plan investments has been a hot-button issue for many years, with the view on...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

Mintz

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

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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

IR Global

ESG Litigation is Increasing – 3 Tips to Navigate Disputes

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The greentech industry is recognized as one of the key subsectors of the ESG investment world. Energy transition to renewables is the new industrial revolution. It is a global win-win-win for bolstered economic strength,...more

Snell & Wilmer

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

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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

Mintz

Federal Judge Certifies Class Objecting to ESG Investments by Retirement Fund

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On May 22, 2024, Judge O'Connor (N.D. Tex.) ordered that the plaintiffs claiming that investment managers breached their fiduciary duty due to their ESG-focused investing be certified as a class for purposes of the...more

Foley Hoag LLP - White Collar Law &...

Tennessee v. BlackRock: How this Case Informs How We Look Back and Look Ahead at ESG

This is the final post in our 2024 Year in Preview series examining important trends in white collar law and investigations in the coming year... Politicians in Republican-led states have painted a target on environmental,...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

Warner Norcross + Judd

Hot Topics for Private Clients and Family Offices from the 2024 Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning – Part Two

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In our previous blog post on the 2024 Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning, we highlighted some of the concepts and cases related to valuation that were discussed at the conference. In this second post, we share some of...more

Mintz

Texas Court Rules ESG Lawsuit Against Employer's 401(k) Plan Can Proceed

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Recently, a Texas federal court denied the defendants' motion to dismiss in a lawsuit featuring allegations that an employer's 401(k) plan, which allegedly relied on ESG principles when making investments, violated ERISA. ...more

Mintz

New Hampshire Legislators Propose Laws to Criminalize Investing Based on ESG Criteria

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Recently, a pair of bills were proposed in the New Hampshire state legislature that would make it a felony to knowingly invest state or taxpayer funds based upon ESG criteria in violation of fiduciary duty. Specifically, the...more

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

Launch of State Alliance Against “ESG Investing”

On March 16, 2023 the Republican governors of 19 states announced an alliance led by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, to “push back against President Biden’s environmental, social, corporate governance (ESG) agenda that is...more

Cozen O'Connor

AG Coalition Accuses Proxy Advisors of Prioritizing Environment, Diversity over Financial Gain for Clients

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A group of 22 AGs wrote a letter to proxy advisory firms International Shareholder Services, Inc. (ISS) and Glass, Lewis & Co. accusing the companies of potentially violating federal and state laws regarding the advice and...more

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