Administrators of governmental plans and church plans that are not subject to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) should review the following actions to be taken before the end of 2024 and address what...more
The following checklist highlights key issues for general counsel with respect to employee benefit plans and executive compensation arrangements....more
Recent lawsuits filed against the group health plans of two large US employers underscore the importance of implementing formal welfare benefit plan governance structures that include fiduciary committees comparable to the...more
David F. Johnson presented his speech on “Fiduciaryize Your Case” to the State Bar of Texas’s Advanced Civil Trial Course in Frisco, Texas, on July 11, 2024. This presentation covered what a fiduciary relationship means, the...more
There has been a shift taking place in ERISA litigation and compliance that could significantly impact group health plan fiduciary requirements. We anticipate group health plan fiduciary standards will evolve along the same...more
The new “retirement security rule” package, issued by the U.S. Department of Labor (the “DOL”) on October 31, 2023, is the latest chapter in an almost 15-year effort by the DOL to amend the five-part test in its 1975...more
On April 20, 2023, the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) published an FAQ‑style bulletin[1] that provides guidance on the care obligations of broker‑dealers and investment advisers in providing...more
While the removal of a fiduciary has long been the subject of Surrogate’s Court opinions, it is not often that the Appellate Division weighs in on the issue. However, in Matter of Epstein, 2022 NY Slip Op 00658 (2d Dep’t...more
On March 30, 2022, the SEC issued “Staff Bulletin: Standards of Conduct for Broker-Dealers and Investment Advisers Account Recommendations for Retail Investors” (SEC Retail Standards Bulletin). This guidance builds on prior...more
There have been tons of cases where firms got in trouble – in AML trouble, which is one the worst kinds of trouble – for failing to be sufficiently on top of third-party wires, i.e., where a customer wires money not to...more
We repeatedly warned over the past few months, that officials at the highest levels of the DOL were signaling that the DOL would begin an audit initiative focusing on retirement plan cybersecurity practices. ...more
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently addressed several issues of first impression in Bafford v. Northrop Grumman (9th Cir. April 15, 2021), a lawsuit involving retirees who received vastly overstated pension benefit...more
Broker-dealers and investment advisers are now governed by a best interest standard of care. Those standards are based largely on the same fiduciary principles that are incorporated into the ERISA prudent man standard. The...more
Our recent blog post compared the SEC’s standard of conduct for broker-dealers under Regulation Best Interest (Reg BI) with the standard of conduct for registered investment advisers (RIAs) under the SEC’s Interpretation...more
September 1 marked the deadline for enforcement of the Massachusetts regulation on the fiduciary standard for securities recommendations. The regulation went into effect in March 2020...more