The U.S. Department of Labor (the “DOL”) on December 1, 2022, released a new final regulation (the “Final Regulation”) generally relating to certain aspects of the prudence and loyalty duties under the fiduciary rules of the...more
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released its final Regulation (the “Regulation”) relating to the prudence and loyalty duties under the fiduciary rules of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”),...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on October 26, 2022, adopted final rules1 directing national securities exchanges and associations,2 to establish listing standards that require public companies to develop and...more
11/23/2022
/ Clawbacks ,
Compensation ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Final Rules ,
Incentive Compensation ,
Indemnification ,
Insurance Industry ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Securities Exchange Act
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on August 25, 2022 finalized the “Pay-versus-Performance” disclosure requirements (the “Final Rules”)1 that originally were proposed on April 29, 2015 (the “Proposed...more
9/15/2022
/ CD&A ,
Compensation ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Executive Compensation ,
Final Rules ,
GAAP ,
Performance Standards ,
Principle Officers ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Total Shareholder Return (TSR)
The Department of Labor (the “DOL”) on July 27, 2022, on its own initiative, proposed changes to Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption (“PTCE”) 84-14, commonly referred to as the “QPAM Exemption” (the “Proposal”). In general...more
The U.S. Supreme Court on June 24, 2022, overruled Roe v. Wade, the seminal case in which the Court had recognized the existence of the constitutional right for individuals to obtain an abortion. In Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s...more
7/20/2022
/ Abortion ,
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Health Insurance ,
Healthcare ,
Patient Access ,
Popular ,
Pregnancy ,
Reproductive Healthcare Issues ,
Roe v Wade ,
SCOTUS ,
Women's Rights
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on January 28, 2022, reopened the comment period with respect to its pending “pay versus performance” proposal (Proposed Rule), which would generally require public companies to...more
2/11/2022
/ CD&A ,
Comment Period ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Corporate Governance ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Executive Compensation ,
Pay-for-Performance ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Total Shareholder Return (TSR)
On January 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled in Hughes v. Northwestern University that establishing and offering a broad range of investment options for a participant-directed retirement plan does not ensure...more
1/26/2022
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
Duty of Prudence ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Hughes v. Northwestern University ,
Investment Management ,
Plan Participants ,
Retirement Plan ,
Tibble v Edison Int
Last week, the U.S. Department of Labor (the "DOL") on December 21, 2021 issued a supplement (the “2021 Supplement”) to a June 2020 Information Letter (the "2020 Information Letter") that had addressed the possible use of...more
12/28/2021
/ 401k ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Products ,
Information Letters ,
Investment ,
Investment Management ,
Private Equity ,
Retirement Plan
The U.S. Department of Labor (the “DOL”) on October 14, 2021, released a new Proposed Regulation (the “Proposed Regulation”) generally relating to the prudence and loyalty duties under the fiduciary rules of the Employee...more
The U.S. Department of Labor (the “DOL”) yesterday, on October 25, 2021, issued Field Advice Bulletin 2021-2 (the “2021 FAB”), along with an explanatory notice, (the “2021 Notice”) in connection with compliance with...more
Cybercrime increased exponentially in 2020 and into 2021, starting with the disruption caused by COVID-19 and the migration to a work from home environment. Phishing emails were up 35 times and ransom attacks were up 150...more
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“ARPA”), which was signed into law on March 11, 2021, includes a number of provisions relating to health and welfare plans that will be beneficial to many Americans. In addition, ARPA...more
The U.S. federal securities laws, the Commodity Exchange Act and regulations thereunder, and certain other applicable federal laws, rules and regulations, as well as rules of U.S. self-regulatory organizations (such as the...more
Overview The U.S. Department of Labor (the “DOL”) on December 15, 2020 issued a release (the “Release”) finalizing Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption (“PTCE”) 2020-2 (the “Final Exemption”) for retirement accounts...more
1/20/2021
/ Best Interest Standard ,
Biden Administration ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Management ,
Regulation BI ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Retirement Plan ,
Rollover Equity
The Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) recently proposed temporary rules that would permit companies to offer equity compensation to “platform workers” who provide services available through the company’s...more
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the “Act”) was signed by the President on December 27, 2020, to provide additional COVID-related relief. The Act has a number of provisions that are relevant to retirement plans...more
Last week, the U.S. Department of Labor (the “DOL”) on December 15, 2020 issued a release (the “Release”) finalizing an important new initiative for retirement accounts (“Plans”) that are subject to the Employee Retirement...more
Overview -
At the end of last week, on December 11, 2020, the Department of Labor (the “DOL”) released a Final Rule, Fiduciary Duties Regarding Proxy Voting and Shareholder Rights (the “Final Rule”), which addresses the...more
This OnPoint is the first in a series that will examine important trends and developments in class action litigation under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). Here, we look at the current litigation...more
11/20/2020
/ Article III ,
Breach of Duty ,
Class Action ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
ESOP ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
FIfth Third Bancorp v Dudenhoeffer ,
Intel Corp. Investment Policy Committee v. Sulyma ,
Investment Management ,
Retirement Plan ,
Standing ,
Stock Drop Litigation ,
Thole v U.S. Bank
The U.S. Department of Labor (the “DOL”) on October 30, 2020 released a final regulation (the “Final Regulation”) relating to the consideration of non-pecuniary factors by fiduciaries of employee benefit plans (“Plans”) that...more
Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Labor (the “DOL”) on September 22, 2020, proposed a regulation that would clarify how to determine whether a worker is an “employee” under the Fair Labor Standards Act (the “FLSA”) or...more
9/26/2020
/ Amended Rules ,
Classification ,
Comment Period ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Economic Realities Test ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Freelance Workers ,
Gig Economy ,
Independent Contractors ,
Misclassification ,
Popular ,
Public Comment ,
Unemployment Insurance
The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) on August 18, 2020, issued an interim final regulation (the “Regulation”) requiring the inclusion of lifetime income illustrations in the benefit statements provided to participants in...more
9/20/2020
/ 401k ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Comment Period ,
Defined Contribution Plans ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary ,
Interim Rule ,
Lifetime Income Disclosures ,
Limited Liability ,
Request For Information ,
Retirement Plan ,
SECURE Act
The U.S. Department of Labor (the “DOL”) on August 31, 2020 proposed a regulation (the “Proposed Proxy Regulation”) that would apply to how fiduciaries under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”)...more
9/19/2020
/ Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Duty of Loyalty ,
Duty of Prudence ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Popular ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Proxy Voting ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Shareholder Rights ,
Trump Administration
The U.S. Department of Labor (the “DOL”) on June 29, 2020 issued a release (the “Release”) proposing an important new initiative for retirement accounts (“Plans”) that are subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security...more
7/20/2020
/ 1975 Rule ,
Banks ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Brokers ,
Comment Period ,
Covered Transactions ,
Defined Contribution Plans ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Exemptions ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Five-Part Test ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Insurance Industry ,
Investment Adviser ,
New Guidance ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Proposed Rules ,
Public Comment ,
Regulation Best Interest ,
Retirement Plan ,
Rollover Equity