Almost a year ago the Department of Labor (DOL) adopted Prohibited Transaction Exemption 2020-02 (“PTE 2020-02”). PTE 2020-20 allows investment advisors and broker-dealers to receive.
On October 14, 2021, the US Department of Labor (DOL) proposed changes to ERISA regulations that would again shift the analysis of consideration of environmental, social, and governance.
On October 14, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (the "DOL") published a proposed regulation entitled "Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments and Exercising Shareholder Rights" (the "Proposed Rule").
One of President Biden’s first acts upon taking office was to issue an executive order requiring federal agencies to conduct a review of policies or regulations issued by the prior.
On December 16, the Department of Labor (the “Department”) published its
final regulation addressing the fiduciary duties that apply to proxy voting and the exercise of other shareholder rights in connection with investments held by ERISA-covered plans. 29 CFR §2550.404a-1(e); 85 Fed. Reg. 81658 (Dec. 16, 2020) (the “Final Rule”) (attached). The Final Rule represents several significant changes to the Department’s proposed proxy voting regulation, issued just over three months ago (the “Proposed Rule”). 85 Fed. Reg. 55219 (Sept. 4, 2020). The Department received over 300 written comment letters as well as 6,700 form letter submissions in response to the Proposed Rule.
The Final Rule reiterates the Department’s long-held view that when voting (or not voting) proxies, plan fiduciaries must consider the economic significance of the issue on the plan’s investment. But it explicitly rejects the broader set of considerations that it had previously articulated in