News & Analysis as of

Fiduciary Employee Benefits Department of Labor (DOL)

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Labor Department Shifts Positions on ESG Investments and Cryptocurrencies in 401(k) Plans

As anticipated, the Department of Labor (DOL) recently changed its position with respect to certain investment choices that 401(k) plan fiduciaries sometimes consider or make available to plan participants, including...more

Venable LLP

Self-Correction Now Available for Delinquent Participant Contributions and Loan Failures

Venable LLP on

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

McCarter & English, LLP

DOL Issues Guidance on Retirement Plan Treatment of Missing Participants with Small Balances

The United States Department of Labor (DOL) has released Field Assistance Bulletin 2025-01 (the Bulletin), providing much-needed guidance to fiduciaries of retirement plans covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

That ESG rule will be in the waste basket soon

For 2025, the ESG rule will be history for now. Donald Trump as President will reverse the Department of Labor’s ESG rule that allows retirement plan fiduciaries to consider environmental, social, and governance (ESG)...more

Ballard Spahr LLP

DOL Updates Cybersecurity Guidance to Confirm It Applies to All Employee Benefit Plans

Ballard Spahr LLP on

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) updated its 2021 cybersecurity guidance to clarify that it applies to all employee benefit plans. The DOL guidance confirms that plan fiduciaries, including health and welfare plan...more

Hall Benefits Law

Fifth Circuit Appears Skeptical of Invalidating ESG Rule Despite the Fall of Chevron

Hall Benefits Law on

A U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit panel appeared skeptical during oral arguments in which conservative states and Texas-based energy interests sought to reverse a district judge’s order upholding an environmental,...more

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive...

DOL Updates Guidance on Pension and Health & Welfare Plan Cybersecurity Best Practices

In 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued 3 documents outlining guidance on cybersecurity practices for benefits plans, which we discussed in a blog post at the time. The DOL recently issued revised versions of the...more

Lathrop GPM

Retirement Security Fiduciary Rule Stayed

Lathrop GPM on

Under recently finalized federal regulations (commonly referred to as the “Fiduciary Rule”) that were scheduled to become effective on September 23, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor intended to expand the fiduciary...more

Kaufman & Canoles

ESOPs, Benefits & Compensation Q2 2024 Client Update

Kaufman & Canoles on

On behalf of the ESOPs, Benefits & Compensation team, we hope your Summer is off to a great start. In the time of family vacations and out-of-office replies, the pace of employee benefits changes—both large and small—remains...more

Goodwin

The U.S. Department Of Labor’s New Definition of Fiduciary Investment Advice Is Finalized (Again)

Goodwin on

The Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a new regulation defining fiduciary “investment advice” under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), as amended, and Section 4975 of the Internal Revenue Code of...more

Miller Canfield

DOL’s Latest Regulatory Package Expands Definition of Fiduciary

Miller Canfield on

The Department of Labor ("DOL") recently issued a regulatory package that includes a final rule updating ERISA's definition of an investment advice fiduciary and amending certain related prohibited transaction exemptions...more

Mayer Brown

United States: The Long Read - Lifetime Income Products in CITs on the Rise

Mayer Brown on

As recently noted by the US Department of Labor (“DOL”), since the passage of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”), “the retirement plan landscape has changed significantly, with a shift from defined...more

McAfee & Taft

Bitcoin ETFs and workplace retirement plans: DOL has ‘serious concerns’

McAfee & Taft on

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently approved applications from large investment firms to offer spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Retail investors can now buy bitcoin ETFs on traditional...more

Quarles & Brady LLP

2023 Year-End Employee Benefits Updates

Quarles & Brady LLP on

This newsletter provides updates employers should be aware of heading into 2024, including an outline of the updated 2024 retirement and welfare plan limits, instructions related to the “gag order” attestation requirements...more

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

DOL Issues New Proposed Fiduciary Rule

On Tuesday, October 31, 2023, the U.S. Department of Labor (the "DOL") issued a new proposed rule pertaining to the definition of “fiduciary” under ERISA and Section 4975 of the Code. If adopted, the proposed rule would...more

Carlton Fields

DOL Tries Once Again To Define What Constitutes Investment Advice Under ERISA

Carlton Fields on

On Friday, November 3, the Federal Register published the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) latest attempt to redefine who is an “investment advice fiduciary” under ERISA. In conjunction with the regulatory proposal, the...more

Nossaman LLP

Federal Court Rejects States’ Challenge to DOL’s ESG Investing Rule

Nossaman LLP on

On September 21, 2023, a federal judge in Texas granted summary judgment in, and thus dismissed, a lawsuit filed by the Attorneys General of 25 states and other interested parties challenging a final rule issued by the U.S....more

A&O Shearman

DOL Finalizes ESG Rule for ERISA Plan Fiduciaries

A&O Shearman on

The Department of Labor (the DOL) has released its final rule clarifying how and when ERISA fiduciaries may consider ESG factors in making investment decisions for a plan. The rule also offers substantial guidance on the...more

Foley Hoag LLP

DOL Eases Restrictions on Use of ESG Factors in Retirement Plan Investment Decisions

Foley Hoag LLP on

The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) has issued a final rule (the “Final Rule) addressing how ERISA fiduciaries may consider environmental, social and governmental (ESG) factors in making investment decisions for retirement...more

Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP

What Broker-Dealers Need to Know About Correcting PTE 2020-02 Mistakes

The DOL expanded its interpretation of fiduciary advice in the Preamble to PTE 2020-02 and as a result, many more broker-dealers and their registered representatives (investment professionals) are fiduciaries for their...more

Pullman & Comley - Labor, Employment and...

ERISA Plan Sponsors:  DOL Investigation Defense: Adopt Solid Cybersecurity Protocols

In April 2021, Employee Benefits Security Administration division of the United States Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued cybersecurity related guidance intended to assist business owners and plan fiduciaries to prudently...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

Williams Mullen

PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - What Constitutes Plan Assets Under ERISA?

Williams Mullen on

On this episode of Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion, host Brydon DeWitt is joined by Zan Gormley, a partner in Williams Mullen’s Litigation Section, who discusses the law and guidance on what constitutes “assets of the...more

Perkins Coie

2022 Cybersecurity Issues and Recommendations for ERISA Plan Fiduciaries

Perkins Coie on

New cybersecurity developments and observations, including those relating to U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) review of cybersecurity issues, warrant prompt consideration by plan sponsors and other fiduciaries of employee...more

McDermott Will & Emery

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Investing for Retirement Plans: Where We’ve Been, and Where We Are Now

McDermott Will & Emery on

Over the past year, the regulatory backdrop around environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing has shifted. As McDermott Partner Brian J. Tiemann explains in these slides, the US Department of Labor (DOL) under the...more

54 Results
 / 
View per page
Page: of 3

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"

Your first step to building a free, personalized, morning email brief covering pertinent authors and topics on JD Supra:
*By using the service, you signify your acceptance of JD Supra's Privacy Policy.
- hide
- hide