A nearly unanimous Supreme Court has seemingly set new limits on the punitive authorities of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), though just how much has changed is up for debate.
Part of the Supreme Court’s reasoning in affirming two lower court rulings in Thole v. U.S. Bank is the fact that the Department of Labor polices pension plan fiduciary violations, but plaintiffs’ attorneys say the resourced-strapped federal agency can’t do the job alone.
Normally the Supreme Court strives to structure its rulings with the narrowest possible scope and implications, but that is not always the case.
The case is expected to help determine whether the millions of Americans whose pensions are held in defined benefit plans have the right to sue the fiduciaries of their plans for mismanaging assets, even when their own retirement benefit has not suffered.
Like many of us lucky enough to still be working during the pandemic, the Supreme Court is operating on a remote basis as the justices contemplate a case that could affect the application of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
ERISA attorneys are grappling with the potential implications of the Supreme Court’s new ruling in Intel vs. Sulyma; some are speculating the growing use of electronic delivery methods for retirement plan disclosures may reduce the impact.
Expert ERISA attorneys have been eagerly awaiting the Supreme Court’s decision in a case called Kisor v. Wilkie. The complicated ruling issued Wednesday is the most significant of the term for the retirement plan audience.