JOSEPH C. FAUCHER and BRIAN D. MURRAY, November, 2019 The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) has generated numerous U.S. Supreme Court decisions since its enactment, and this year’s term is no exception. The Court is currently considering three ERISA cases involving a range of significant issues. First, in Retirement Plans Committee of […]
Fiduciary and ERISA Consulting
JOSEPH C. FAUCHER and DYLAN D. RUDOLPH, February, 2019 This article was first published by the Journal of Pension Benefits: Issues in Administration, Design, Funding, and Compliance, Autumn 2018, Vol. 26, No. 1. Although the viability of arbitration rather than litigation in ERISA fiduciary breach claims remains to be seen, there are several considerations for employers who […]
NICHOLAS J. WHITE, October, 2018 Research shows that student loan debt is now second only to mortgages in consumer debt. More than 44 million Americans owe collectively $1.5 trillion in student loan debt, with the average student in the Class of 2016 owing over $37,000. Many of these individuals cite their outstanding student loans (or […]
JOSEPH C. FAUCHER AND DYLAN R. RUDOLPH, DECEMBER 13, 2017 This article analyzes the Dudenhoeffer pleading standard and “stock drop” cases. It was first published by Wolters Kluwer in the Journal of Pension Benefits, Spring 2017, Vol. 24, No. 3. I. Introduction Before 2014, most of the federal Courts of Appeals applied a “presumption of prudence” when […]
ROBERT R. GOWER, December 7, 2017 On November 29, 2017, the Department of Labor (the DOL) released a final rule (the “final rule”) extending the transition period for compliance with certain requirements of the Conflict of Interest Rulemaking package (commonly known as the “Fiduciary Rule”) by 18 months to July 1, 2019.1 While certain requirements […]
NICHOLAS WHITE, ROBERT GOWER and ADRINE ADJEMIAN, May 2017 Following months of uncertainty stemming from a February 3, 2017, Presidential memorandum ordering the Secretary of Labor to conduct a review of the final fiduciary advice regulatory package (the “Final Rule”), including a 60-day delay in its applicability date, it seems all but certain the […]
ROBERT R. GOWER, March 2017 On Friday, March 10, 2017, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) published on its website Field Assistance Bulletin 2017-01 (“the FAB”) providing a temporary enforcement policy for the DOL’s Fiduciary Rule and related Best Interest Contract Exemption (“BICE”). The Fiduciary Rule and BICE, which have become the subject of reevaluation […]
NICHOLAS J. WHITE, February 2017 Just a few hours before our webinar on March 1st, entitled What Comes Next? — Lessons Learned & Practical Implications of the Fiduciary Rule Under Review, the Department of Labor (DOL) released a proposed rule extending the April 10th applicability date of the Fiduciary Rule (the “Rule”) by 60 […]
ROBERT R. GOWER, February 2017 On Friday, February 3, 2017, President Trump signed an executive order calling for the United States Department of Labor (“DOL”) to review the DOL Fiduciary Rule (the “Rule”), which is scheduled (by its terms) to become applicable on April 10, 2017. The implications of the request for review may […]
JOSEPH FAUCHER, November 2016 ESOPs have been a “national project” of Department of Labor (DOL) enforcement since the 1980s. But unlike other regulatory agencies, the DOL has put off issuing clear guidance—other than a proposed regulation that has never been finalized—regarding how fiduciaries should meet the standards articulated in ERISA… Click to Read More. Published […]
ADRINE ADJEMIAN, April 2016 – On Wednesday, April 6, 2016, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued a pre-publication version of its long-awaited controversial final fiduciary advice regulatory package. The package is scheduled for publication in the Federal Register on April 8, 2016. This rule is the first meaningful update to retirement advice regulations since 1975, […]
NICHOLAS J. WHITE, October 2015 — In 2008, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued a safe-harbor regulation for plan investment fiduciaries regarding a prudent process for selecting and monitoring annuity providers and contracts for defined contribution plans (the “Safe Harbor Rule”). In Field Assistance Bulletin (FAB) 2015-2 (the “FAB”), issued this past summer, the DOL […]
ROBERT R. GOWER, May 2015 — After years back at the drawing board following the withdrawal of proposed fiduciary regulations issued in 2010, on April 20, 2015, the United States Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued a new proposed rulemaking package that more broadly defines the circumstances in which a person who provides “investment advice” may […]
On December 16, 2013, the Supreme Court ruled in Heimeshoff v. Hartford Life & Accident Ins. Co., — S. Ct. —, 2013 WL 6569594 that a limitations period for bringing suit that is written into an employee benefit plan document, even a limitations period that starts to run before a cause of action accrues, is […]
As reported in our August 1, 2013 newsletter, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on June 4, 2013 reinstated an ERISA class action in Harris v. Amgen, Inc., 717 F.3d 1042 (9th Cir. 2013), alleging that the defendants breached their fiduciary duties by continuing to offer company stock in two company-sponsored plans […]
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