News & Analysis as of

Department of Labor (DOL) Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) Environmental Social & Governance (ESG)

Perkins Coie

ESG Landscape: Continued Focus on Sustainability

Perkins Coie on

In the current political and business environment, companies are taking action to address a range of environmental and social issues.  Corporate attitudes have changed since the late 2010s, when environmental, social, and...more

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

How Does the Demise of Chevron Deference Affect Employee Benefit Plans and ERISA Regulatory Actions and Litigation?

Since 1984, citation to Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council ("Chevron") has meant that courts should defer to an agency's interpretations of an ambiguous statute—as long as the agency's interpretation is...more

Proskauer - Corporate Defense and Disputes

Missouri Court Enjoins Missouri’s Anti-ESG Rules for Financial Advisers

A federal district court in Missouri recently enjoined Missouri Securities Division rules that require financial firms and professionals to obtain clients’ signatures on state-prescribed documents before providing advice that...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Fifth Circuit Remands ESG Rule in First ERISA Test Case Post-Chevron

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

In its recent decision in State of Utah v. Su, the Fifth Circuit remanded a challenge to the Department of Labor’s (DOL) environmental, social, and governance (ESG) rule for investing in defined contribution retirement plans...more

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

Sustainability/ESG Policy and Regulatory Update

Key topics in Akin’s July 2024 Sustainability/ESG Policy and Regulatory Update include: Updated Assessment of SFDR by EU Regulators: The European Supervisory Authorities have proposed changes to the Sustainable Finance...more

Mintz - Energy & Sustainability Viewpoints

Energy & Sustainability Litigation Updates – August 2024

Regulatory Updates - Governor Newsom (D-CA) recently proposed a two-year delay to California’s sweeping new mandatory climate disclosures, which apply to all large companies—public or private—doing business in California....more

Nossaman LLP

Relying on Loper, Fifth Circuit Sends Chevron-based decision Back to District Court, calling ESG Rule into Question

Nossaman LLP on

On July 18, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (“Fifth Circuit”) vacated a decision by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas (“District Court”) that upheld the U.S. Department of Labor’s...more

Mintz

The Demise of the Chevron Doctrine Begins to Impact ESG Jurisprudence

Mintz on

Last week, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals vacated and remanded the appeal from a lower court's decision upholding the Biden Administration's Department of Labor rule enabling ERISA plans to consider ESG factors, ordering...more

Goodwin

Minding the Store: Unanticipated ESG Issues Affecting ERISA Fiduciary Supervision

Goodwin on

A recent summary judgment decision from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas in an ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act) class action challenging the alleged impact of environmental, social,...more

Jackson Lewis P.C.

Where Does the End of Chevron Deference Leave ERISA?

Jackson Lewis P.C. on

For the last 40 years, judges were required to defer to administrative agencies’ reasonable interpretations of ambiguous federal statutes under Chevron v. Natural Resources Defense Council. The Supreme Court upended that...more

Paul Hastings LLP

Pecuniary vs. Nonpecuniary Factors: Understanding the Potential Scope of Anti-ESG Restrictions in U.S. State Laws

Paul Hastings LLP on

Executive Summary and Overview- State anti-ESG lawmakers have enacted legislation aimed at restricting investors from considering ESG factors in their investment strategies and decisions by requiring state financial...more

Morgan Lewis

ESG Investing: The US Regulatory Perspective

Morgan Lewis on

As companies increasingly encounter dialogue regarding environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors, they and their investors and other stakeholders face the task of navigating the sometimes-contradictory web of...more

ArentFox Schiff

Airline 401k Decision Illustrates Continued Takeoff of ESG Litigation

ArentFox Schiff on

A Texas federal judge recently permitted an environmental, social, and governance- (ESG) related Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) case filed by an airline pilot against his employer and its benefits plan to...more

ArentFox Schiff

Top 10 ESG Developments for 2023

ArentFox Schiff on

2023 saw terms like “ESG,” “greenwashing,” and “circular economy” come into common use. We also saw a tsunami of other environmental, social, and governance (ESG)-related developments at the international, federal, and state...more

Morgan Lewis - ML Benefits

Reminder: DOL’s Final Rule on Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investment Options Effective Dec 1

As discussed in a previous LawFlash, the US Department of Labor’s Final Rule on Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investment Options, also known as the ESG Rule, contains provisions on proxy voting, which are not limited...more

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

Texas Federal Judge: DOL ESG Investing Rule Does Not Violate ERISA

On September 21, 2023, a Texas federal court dismissed an action commenced by more than two dozen Republican state attorneys general challenging a 2022 Department of Labor (DOL) Rule that addressed consideration of ESG...more

Cozen O'Connor

Republican AGs Appeal to the Fifth Circuit on Labor Department’s ESG Investment Rule

Cozen O'Connor on

A coalition of 25 Republican AGs filed an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in their lawsuit against the Department of Labor that challenges the implementation of a rule permitting retirement plan...more

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

Update - DOL’s Final ESG Investing and Proxy Voting Regulation – Impact on ERISA Fiduciaries and Private Fund Managers

Certain portions of the Department of Labor's ESG regulation concerning investment and proxy voting decisions for ERISA fiduciaries will become effective on December 1, 2023 (our alert describing the regulation can be found...more

Proskauer Rose LLP

Special DOL Proxy Voting Rule Set to Take Effect on December 1, 2023 – Potential Action Items for ERISA Fiduciary Investment...

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In late 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor (the “DOL”) issued final regulations (the “Final Rules”) which address the extent to which ERISA fiduciaries may consider environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) factors when...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

Groom Law Group, Chartered

Biden ESG Rule Shows Some Staying Power

On September 21, 2023, the District Court for the Northern District of Texas rejected a challenge brought by 26 states that argued that the Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) 2022 Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments...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

Seward & Kissel LLP

Action Steps for Managers of Private Investment Funds Subject to ERISA Prior to December 1, 2023 to Address the DOL’s Rule...

Seward & Kissel LLP on

If you manage a private investment fund that is subject to Title I of ERISA and is not a feeder fund (an “ERISA Fund”), you should, before December 1, 2023, take the steps described below in order to comply with the DOL’s...more

Verrill

Update on the Debate over Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance Investing

Verrill on

The debate over investment of retirement plan funds based on environmental, social, and corporate governance (“ESG”) factors continues to make waves. This post provides a high-level overview of the current state of play for...more

Dechert LLP

The Developing Litigation Risks from the ESG Backlash in the United States

Dechert LLP on

In the past year, environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) practices have faced heightened scrutiny in the United States from state attorneys general, state and federal legislators, other government officials, and...more

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