Compliance July 2, 2025

Natixis Prevails at Court in ERISA Complaint

The judge ruled that the defendants had not breached their fiduciary duty by acting in their own interests, following a two-week bench trial.

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A federal judge in the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts ruled in favor of Natixis Investment Managers, L.P. in an Employee Retirement Income Security Act complaint brought by former employee Brian Waldner, who alleged the company mismanaged its employee 401(k) retirement plan. 

The case, first filed in February 2021, accused Natixis and its retirement committee of breaching their fiduciary duties by favoring proprietary investment funds and failing to monitor fund performance adequately. Waldner, acting on behalf of a class of plan participants, claimed these decisions led to missed investment gains. 

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The defendants filed a motion to dismiss the case, which was denied by the district court in December 2021. 

The lawsuit had challenged both the overall management of the Natixis 401(k) Savings and Retirement Plan and specific fund decisions, including the retention of five “at-issue” funds. Waldner argued that Natixis prioritized its business interests by favoring affiliated investment options which underperformed industry benchmarks and had higher fees than comparative funds in the market. 

U.S. District Judge Leo Sorokin found that, although there were isolated process failures, such as delays in removing certain funds or conducting structural reviews, it did not meet the standards of a fiduciary breach.   

The court noted that Natixis’s retirement committee relied on independent consultant s Mercer and legal counsel from Sullivan & Worcester throughout the decision–making process, which would review proprietary funds. 

According to the court, Natixis’ retirement plans defaulted participants into a non-proprietary suite of funds and offered participants several passive and active non-proprietary options and only added a proprietary fund because it was recommended by consultants. 

“Plaintiffs failed to adduce evidence that the Committee ever prioritized Natixis’s interests over those of plan participants,” the court ruled.  

A spokesperson for Natixis said the company is “gratified by the ruling.”  

Natixis 401(k) savings and retirement plan had $557.8 million in assets as of 2023 with 1,679 plan participants, according to its most recent Form 5500. 

Compliance July 2, 2025

EBSA Eliminates Three Interpretive Bulletins, Calling Them ‘Unnecessary’

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The Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration announced on Monday that it is removing three interpretive bulletins related to the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, calling them obsolete and unnecessary. 

The rule eliminates Interpretive Bulletins 75-2, 75-6, and 75-10 from Title 29 of the Code of Federal Regulations. These bulletins, issued shortly after ERISA’s passage, were originally intended to guide fiduciaries and plan sponsors navigating the complex new law. However, the Department stated that subsequent regulations and legal developments have rendered them redundant.

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“The DOL believes the interpretive bulletins are no longer needed, and if left on the books, add potential confusion and unnecessary complexity,” the agency stated in the release. The notice stated that the action follows a January Executive Order by President Donald Trump called “Unleashing Prosperity Through Deregulation” by “reducing unnecessary, burdensome, and costly federal regulations.”

The Removed Bulletins

Interpretive Bulletin 75-2 offered the DOL’s views on prohibited transactions involving parties in interest in an employee benefit plan. The DOL believes newer sub–regulatory guidance provides a more current and accurate framework about the Department’s view of prohibited transactions.

Plaintiffs have frequently filed complaints this year alleging plan sponsors had engaged in prohibited transactions as part of a recent flurry of ERISA litigation. Daniel Aronowitz, who awaits a full Senate vote to head the EBSA, said he plans to end the flood of cases.  

Interpretive Bulletin 75-6 concerned fiduciary expense advances, a topic that was comprehensively addressed by a final regulation in 1977, according to the release. 

“There is no reason to permit identical standards for the same conduct to exist in two different parts of the Code of Federal Regulations,” the agency stated in the release. “Indeed, analyzing both regulations to determine whether they are different or cover different conduct only wastes time and resources that could be more productively employe,”

Interpretive Bulletin 75-10 clarified the interplay between IRS and DOL jurisdiction. That issue was effectively resolved by the Reorganization Plan No. 4 of 1978 and its Congressional ratification in 1984, making the bulletin unnecessary, according to the release. 

While the rule is set to take effect 60 days from its official publication—the DOL is inviting public comment during the first 30 days.

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