Tag: EBSA

Agency leaders say the principal idea of the new proposal is that climate change and other ESG factors can be financially material and, when they are, considering them will inevitably lead to better long-term risk-adjusted returns.

One commentator who works in the employee stock ownership plan space says the ruling represents “one of the most comprehensive rebukes of DOL arguments” in such a valuation case.

In addition to asking for input on the SECURE Act’s requirements and the current Form 5500, the DOL has published a notice of proposed changes to its implementation of regulations under Title I of ERISA.

This is meant to help retirement investors, employee benefit plans and investment advice providers.

The full Senate voted Monday evening to approve the nomination of Boston Mayor Marty Walsh to lead the U.S. Department of Labor at critical time for the U.S. economy and its workforce.

The department says it will not pursue enforcement actions against any plan fiduciary for failure to comply, and it plans to release further guidance on the issues.

The prescheduled phase-out of the coronavirus disaster declaration had created a ‘compliance conundrum,’ which the DOL has now addressed by issuing additional guidance.

In the coming days, the agency will publish related guidance for retirement investors, employee benefit plans and investment advice providers.

The guidance includes best practices for locating missing participants in addition to best practices for documenting efforts to do so.

The second-term mayor of Boston is known for fighting for a higher minimum wage and for being a long-term union member who is outspoken about the role of collective labor in the U.S. economy.

The final version of the regulation emphasizes the importance of using only ‘pecuniary’ factors in the assessment of investment options within tax-qualified retirement plans, rather than expressly limiting the use of environmental, social and governance themed investments.