News & Analysis as of

Retirement Plan Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) Investment

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

So, How Can Participants Invest Their Retirement Money?

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

Under the current administration, the Department of Labor has once again changed course on its view of permissible investing strategies for retirement plans, warming to crypto and private equity, and confirming their distrust...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

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

DOL Plans to Replace ESG Rule for Retirement Plan Fiduciaries

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) indicated in court documents that it intends to begin new rulemaking to replace a previous rule that permitted 401(k) plan fiduciaries to consider environmental, social, and governance (ESG)...more

Ropes & Gray LLP

Trump DOL Withdraws Biden-Era ESG Rule and Crypto Guidance for ERISA Plans

Ropes & Gray LLP on

On May 28, 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) began to articulate the Trump administration’s retirement policy priorities with its decisions to (i) end its defense of the Biden-era ESG rule in a long-running lawsuit...more

King & Spalding

U.S. Department of Labor Updates: Yes to Crypto and No to ESG?

King & Spalding on

On May 28, 2025, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) provided updated guidance on two employee benefit plan-related investment areas: (1) cryptocurrency and (2) environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) investing....more

Williams Mullen

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

Williams Mullen on

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

A&O Shearman on

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

Verrill on

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

Paul Hastings LLP

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

Paul Hastings LLP on

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

A&O Shearman on

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

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

Miller Canfield

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

Miller Canfield on

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

Ropes & Gray LLP on

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

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

Mayer Brown

The Pensions Brief: June 2024

Mayer Brown on

Issues affecting all schemes - General Election – impact on pensions - The General Election resulted in a landslide victory for the Labour Party. While no pensions-related announcements have been made since the election by...more

Mintz

Federal Judge Certifies Class Objecting to ESG Investments by Retirement Fund

Mintz on

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

A&O Shearman

DC trustee agenda update - April 2024

A&O Shearman on

Welcome to our monthly update on current legal issues for trustees of DC pension schemes, designed to help you stay up to date with key developments between trustee meetings, and to support the legal update item on your next...more

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

UK Government Taskforce to Produce Guidance for Pensions Sector to Consider Social Factors in Investment Decisions

On October 19, 2023, the UK government’s Taskforce on Social Factors (Taskforce) launched a consultation to produce guidance on how pension funds can consider social issues in their investment decisions. The guide is intended...more

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

UK’s Pensions Regulator Pushes for Further Climate Scenario Analysis

In August 2023, the UK pensions regulator’s climate and sustainability lead, Mark Hill, authored an article setting out how trustees can improve the climate-scenario analyses used by their schemes, in order to make them more...more

Mintz

Biden Administration's DOL Rule Enabling Investment Advisors to Consider ESG Factors Survives Judicial Challenge

Mintz on

On September 21, 2023, Judge Kacsmaryk (N.D. Texas), a famously conservative Trump-appointed jurist, upheld a Department of Labor rule promulgated by the Biden Administration that enables employee retirement plans to consider...more

Morgan Lewis

ESG Investing Regulations Across the 50 States

Morgan Lewis on

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing has been an area of focus for investors in recent years. ESG investing has also been the target of regulators around the globe. In the United States, the industry awaits a...more

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

UK Pensions Regulator Launches Regulatory Initiative to Monitor Climate and ESG Non-compliance by Trustees

On February 22, 2023, the UK’s Pensions Regulator (TPR) announced the launch of a new initiative aimed at tightening regulation around ESG data published by trustees, as part of a wider campaign to assess whether trustees are...more

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

President Biden Expected to Issue First Veto to Preserve DOL ESG Investment Rule

President Biden will likely issue the first veto of his presidency after Congress passed a measure that would repeal a Department of Labor rule that allows retirement plan fiduciaries to consider ESG-related factors in...more

55 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