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DOL Final Rule 4.0 - Correcting the historical record

From the 2010 outset of its project to extend ERISA fiduciary status broadly to financial intermediaries, including insurance agents, the US Department of Labor (DOL) has consistently relied on the evolution of the private...more

Department of Labor’s final Fiduciary Rule 4.0

On April 23, 2024, the US Department of Labor (DOL) released its Final Rule 4.0 regarding ERISA fiduciary investment advice, including amended exemptions for conflicted investment advice. Our initial analysis of the Final...more

DOL’s proposed QPAM amendments may amount to an effective revocation of the exemption

In the guise of clarifications relating to criminal convictions and misconduct, the Department of Labor (DOL) has proposed major amendments to Prohibited Transaction Exemption (PTE) 84-14, also known as the QPAM exemption...more

Unlocking the process: Guide to ERISA individual prohibited transaction exemptions

Since 1996, the US Department of Labor granted more than 1,200 individual exemptions from the ERISA prohibited transaction rules. One of the distinctive features of ERISA is its prohibition, in ERISA section 406 as a...more

Proposed ERISA regulation may facilitate ESG in retirement plans

On October 14, 2021, the US Department of Labor (DOL) proposed changes to ERISA regulations that would again shift the analysis of consideration of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors in retirement plans...more

DOL extends temporary enforcement policy for conflicted fiduciaries, delays rollover enforcement

In Field Assistance Bulleting 2021-02, published on October 25, 2021, the US Department of Labor announced with respect to its Fiduciary Rule 3.0 that: ..The temporary ERISA enforcement policy for conflicted fiduciary...more

DOL Fiduciary Rule 3.0: The sprint to December 20

As businesses return to work after Labor Day 2021, a principal focus for companies that serve US retirement plans will be the impending December 20 enforcement date for the Labor Department’s (DOL) latest fiduciary guidance...more

DOL hears an ERISA claimant on access to audio recordings

In a June 14, 2021 information letter, the US Department of Labor (DOL) opined that a claimant appealing an adverse benefit determination under a plan covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended...more

GAO report illuminates DOL enforcement of ERISA

In a report released on May 27, 2021, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) published the results of a 15-month inquiry into the enforcement of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA)...more

DOL warns the ERISA fiduciary debate is far from over

In a troubling development, the US Department of Labor (DOL) has announced its expectation that it will proceed to propose yet another iteration of investment advice guidance under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act...more

2020 in review – ERISA guidance

In 2020, the Department of Labor (DOL), in its guidance issued under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA), remained principally focused on the development of its Fiduciary Rule 3.0 and...more

2020 in review - ERISA enforcement

The US Department of Labor (DOL) has published its Fiscal Year 2020 “Fact Sheet” documenting the criminal and civil enforcement activities of its Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) under the Employee Retirement...more

DOL proposes to formalize its ERISA guidance on ESG investing

On June 30, 2020, the US Department of Labor (DOL) published in the Federal Register a proposed rule that would regulate ERISA plan fiduciary conduct when considering investments under an environmental, social and governance...more

DOL issues RFI on a possible ERISA class exemption for PEP/MEP plans

On June 18, 2020, the US Department of Labor (DOL) published a request for information (RFI), in advance of its potential proposal of a class exemption (PTE) providing relief for ERISA prohibited transactions arising in the...more

DOL open to innovative investments bringing private equities into defined contribution plans

On June 3, 2020, the US Department of Labor (DOL) issued an Information Letter reassuring plan fiduciaries that in appropriate circumstances, a professionally managed fund that contains a private equity component may be...more

2019 in Review – ERISA Enforcement

The US Department of Labor (DOL) has published its Fiscal Year 2019 "Fact Sheet" documenting the criminal and civil enforcement activities of its Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) under the Employee Retirement...more

2019 in review - ERISA guidance

In 2019, the Department of Labor (DOL) continued its trend of providing limited advance guidance under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA). By volume, the amount of 2019 guidance...more

Kisor v. Wilkie and judicial deference to agency determinations—Are there implications for employee benefits litigation and the...

In June 2019, a unanimous Supreme Court in Kisor v. Wilkie retained but limited the scope of Auer deference – the court-created doctrine that courts should defer to an agency’s interpretation of its own regulations or other...more

DOL and Treasury update guidance agendas for employee benefits (Spring 2019) 

The principal regulators of US employee benefits have recently published updates to their guidance plans for the coming months. On May 22, 2019, the US Department of Labor (DOL) published its Semi-Annual Regulatory Agenda,...more

The emerging patchwork of fiduciary investment advice regulation – Putting the pieces together (update)

By all accounts, 2019 will see a number of fiduciary and best interest investment advice regulations advance at both the federal and state levels. Firms subject to these regulations will face challenges in dealing with rules...more

2018 in review – ERISA enforcement

The US Department of Labor (DOL) recently published its Fiscal Year 2018 “Fact Sheet” documenting the criminal and civil enforcement activities of its Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) under the Employee...more

The emerging patchwork of fiduciary investment advice regulation – Putting the pieces together

By all accounts, 2019 will see the advancement of a number of fiduciary and best interest investment advice regulations at both the federal and state levels. Firms subject to these regulations will face challenges in dealing...more

DOL considers important efficiencies for the retirement system

In the last three weeks, the Department of Labor (DOL) undertook two initiatives that have the potential to improve the efficiency of the retirement system and the retirement security it provides to US workers. ..The first...more

DOL and Treasury update guidance agendas for employee benefits (fall 2018)

The principal regulators of US employee benefits have recently published updates to their guidance plans for the coming months. ..On October 18, 2018, the US Department of Labor (DOL) published its Semi-Annual Regulatory...more

Standards of conduct for investment professionals – overlapping protections for broker-dealer retirement customers

The legal standards for broker-dealer firms (BDs) and their representatives, particularly in the retirement market, continue to be in flux. BDs were among those most affected by the promulgation in 2016 of the Department of...more

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