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
5/10/2024
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Final Rules ,
Insurance Industry ,
Investment ,
Investment Adviser ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
PTEs ,
Retirement Plan
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
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
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
2/25/2021
/ Administrative Exemption ,
Advisory Opinions ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Proxy Voting ,
Retirement Plan
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
9/24/2019
/ Administrative Agencies ,
Administrative Interpretation ,
Administrative Procedure Act ,
Auer Deference ,
Chevron Deference ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Judicial Review ,
Kisor v Wilkie ,
Reasonable Interpretations ,
SCOTUS
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
5/21/2019
/ Best Interest Standard ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Insurance Industry ,
Investment Adviser ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
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
4/2/2019
/ Best Interest Standard ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Insurance Industry ,
Investment Adviser ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
In broad scope, the guidance issued in 2018 by the Department of Labor (DOL) under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA), extended a trend established over the preceding five years, with one...more
The nationwide vacatur of the Department of Labor “investment advice” fiduciary definition and related exemptions by the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on March 15, 2018, does not bring an end to the challenges...more
In 2017, the principal focus in the administration of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA), by the Department of Labor (DOL) appropriately remained one of the extraordinary developments...more
2/14/2018
/ Best Interest Contract Exemptions ,
Criminal Investigations ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EBSA ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Investment Adviser ,
IRS ,
MEWAs ,
Political Appointments ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
QPAM ,
Retirement Plan ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
Trump Administration
By a notice published in the Federal Register on November 29, 2017, the Department of Labor (DOL) extended from January 1, 2018, until July 1, 2019, the date for compliance with the full conditions in its new “investment...more
With its announcements of May 22, 2017, starting with an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal, the Department of Labor confirmed that, absent last-minute action in the courts or by Congress, its new “investment advice” fiduciary...more
On April 4, 2017, the Department of Labor released its final rule postponing the applicability date of its new “investment advice” fiduciary definition and related exemptions. This extension, which was published in the April...more
With recent developments in all three branches of government bearing on the authority and timing of the new Department of Labor (DOL) final rule expanding the definition of fiduciary “investment advice” (the Final Rule) for...more
In 2016, the Department of Labor (DOL) continued a curtailed program of interpretive guidance under the Employment Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA). As has been the case for several years, the...more