Robinson+Cole's ERISA Claim Defense Team

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As we approach the end of the year and mid-term elections, expectations for meaningful policy from a lame duck Congress are at a record low. Surprisingly, however, the earlier passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (commonly referred to as “Tax Reform”) resulted in an unsettled desire among those in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate to accomplish something rare – bipartisan legislation improving retirement and savings for millions of Americans.

The two pieces of legislation that have bipartisan support are the Retirement Enhancement and Savings Act (RESA) and the Family Savings Act of 2018 (FSA).
Continue Reading Could We See Retirement Reform in a Lame Duck Congress?

The Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) conflict of interest rule, informally coined the “fiduciary rule,” sparked much debate when the regulations were proposed in 2015, and finalized in 2016, to expand the definition of fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”).  However, the fiduciary rule was continuously challenged in the courts, and appears to have met its final fate at the hands of the Fifth Circuit nearly 2 years later.
Continue Reading Fifth Circuit Reaffirms Decision to Vacate Fiduciary Rule

On May 22, 2017, Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary Alexander Acosta announced in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal that the DOL would not issue another delay of the “fiduciary rule,” and that it was set to generally become effective on June 9, 2017. As we now know, certain provisions of the fiduciary rule went into effect on that date, with others being delayed until July 1, 2019. However, the fiduciary rule remains under attack in the courts. Two notable appellate court decisions were issued within days of one another, and both were decided by three judge panels. One case upheld narrow provisions of the fiduciary rule, and the other effectively completely invalidated the rule. Shortly after the second decision, the Department of Labor announced that it would not enforce the fiduciary rule “pending further review.”…
Continue Reading The Fate of the Department of Labor Fiduciary Rule Could Be Uncertain

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has filed a proposal with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to delay implementation of the following exemptions under the fiduciary rule from January 1, 2018 to July 1, 2019:

  • Best Interest Contract Exemption (PTE 2016-01)
  • Class Exemption for Principal Transactions in Certain Assets Between Investment Advice Fiduciaries

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On May 22, 2017, Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary Alexander Acosta announced in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal that the DOL will not issue another delay of the “fiduciary rule,” set to become generally effective on June 9, 2017. Secretary Acosta stated on Monday evening that “[w]e have carefully considered the…

A court in the Western District of Virginia held that a lawyer working as a Senior Trust Officer for a fiduciary to an Employee Stock Ownership Plan could be personally liable to workers who claim they overpaid for their employer’s stock purchased by the employer’s ESOP. Hugler v. Vinoskey, 2017 BL 145574, W.D. Va., No. 6:16-cv-00062, 5/2/17. …
Continue Reading Lawyer’s Role in Challenged ESOP Transaction May Have Caused Him to be an ERISA Fiduciary

As ordered by President Trump in a presidential memorandum (the “Memorandum”) on February 3, 2017, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) proposed a 60-day delay to the “fiduciary rule,” which revised the definition of “fiduciary” for retirement investment advice purposes. The rule was originally set to become effective on April 10, 2017; however, after receiving…