The FTC and Connecticut Join Forces for Action Against Nissan Dealer
An In-Depth Analysis of the CFPB’s Proposed Overdraft Rule - The Consumer Finance Podcast
The FTC Takes Initiative to Stop Junk Fees
Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast Episode: The Biden Admin “Junk Fees” Initiative Continues: What the Latest Actions Mean for the Consumer Financial Services and Rental Housing Industries, Pt 1
AD Nauseam: Junk Fees Will Keep Us Together
Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast Episode: What the Biden Administration’s “Junk Fees” Initiative Means for the Consumer Financial Services Industry: A Look at the Fees Under Attack, Part II
Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast Episode: What the Biden Administration’s “Junk Fees” Initiative Means for the Consumer Financial Services Industry: A Look at the Fees Under Attack, Part I
Podcast - Junk Fees: It's a Political Issue
Podcast - Junk Fees: What's the Flap All About
Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast Episode: A Close Look at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Credit Card Late Fees Proposal with Special Guest Todd J. Zywicki
Podcast: Supreme Court May Resolve Key ERISA Statute of Limitations and Proprietary Fund Litigation Questions
Podcast: Federal Court Rejects Mutual Fund Fee Claims and Recognizes Market Realities
Commonly referred to as "excessive fee" litigation, class actions that allege retirement plan investments charge too much and earn too little have increased over the past two decades. Excessive fee cases are difficult to...more
On Friday, for the second week in a row, the Ninth Circuit reversed dismissal of a 401(k) plan excessive fee litigation challenging the offering of retail share classes of mutual funds instead of cheaper institutional share...more
Key Takeaways: ..On November 10, 2021, the SEC released a Risk Alert which provides observations from recent examinations into advisers’ fee calculations. ..In yet another bleak report, the SEC declared that “most”...more
Great-West Life & Annuity Insurance Co. and Great-West Capital Management, LLC (together, “Great-West”) have won a judgment that they did not violate their fiduciary duty by receiving excessive investment advisory and...more
The U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado on August 7, 2020 issued its post-trial findings of fact and conclusions of law in Obeslo v. Great-West Capital Management, LLC et al. The ruling comes at the tail end of a...more
In the News. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed modifying the disclosure framework for mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (funds), which would create a new layered disclosure regime that attempts to...more
The staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations (staff) issued a National Exam Program Risk Alert on June 23, 2020 (Risk Alert). The Risk Alert focuses on advisers that...more
When it comes to health and fitness, you constantly hear studies about what foods fight or cause cancer. Of course, those studies are then debunked. I remember how oat bran was cited to cut down on cholesterol and how...more
Bass, Berry & Sims attorney Chris Lazarini outlined the factors courts must consider in determining whether the fees an adviser charges a mutual fund are excessive and in violation of the Investment Company Act. All the...more
Trader Joe’s successfully beat back a class action lawsuit and it confirms what I have been saying over the abundance of 401(k) excessive fee cases in federal courts. Trader Joe’s was a prime target of ERISA litigators...more
On March 30, 2020, 10 years to the day after the Supreme Court issued its decision in Jones v. Harris, 559 U.S. 335 (2010), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit issued the first published federal appellate decision...more
Key Takeaways - Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reaffirms that comparison of advisory fees to subadvisory fees is “inapt” under Jones v. Harris Assocs., relying on undisputed evidence of differences in services and risks. ...more
On September 27, 2019, following a two-week bench trial, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York dismissed an action brought by mutual fund shareholders under Section 36(b) of the Investment Company Act...more
In a series of enforcement cases over the past few months, the SEC has continued to bring actions focused on undisclosed fees charged to clients. Many of these cases have charged firms with fraud and other violations based on...more
The U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a comprehensive post-trial ruling on September 30, 2019 in Chill v. Calamos Advisors LLC, holding that Plaintiffs failed to meet their burden to show that...more
This quarter’s issue includes summaries and associated court opinions of selected cases principally decided between May and August 2019....more
In this issue, we summarize regulatory, litigation and industry developments from May to September 2019 impacting the investment management sector, including SEC action on standards of conduct for broker-dealers and...more
On August 5, 2019, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California found for the defendant, Metropolitan West Asset Management, LLC (MetWest), following a bench trial in an excessive fee case brought under...more
Litigation and Enforcement Actions and Initiatives – SECTION 36(b) LITIGATION – Court Finds for Defendant Investment Adviser in Section 36(b) - Excessive-Fee Case – On August 5, 2019, the U.S. District Court for the...more
On July 31, 2019, Judge George H. Wu of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California released tentative findings of fact and conclusions of law dismissing an excessive fee claim brought under Section 36(b)...more
In an opinion unsealed on July 3, 2019, Judge Laura Taylor Swain of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York granted summary judgment to a mutual fund adviser and dismissed an excessive fee claim brought...more
In a newly unsealed decision, the federal district court in Manhattan granted summary judgment in favor of a mutual fund’s investment adviser in a lawsuit filed pursuant to Section 36(b) of the Investment Company Act of 1940....more
In a strong opinion, a federal court in the Southern District of New York recently dismissed a suit alleging that the defendant charged “excessive” fees to a mutual fund....more
In the inaugural issue of Investment Management Update, we summarize regulatory, litigation and industry developments from February 2019 to May 2019 impacting the investment management sector....more
Best Practices: Lessons Learned from Litigation—the Anthem Case - I am writing two series of articles that together are called “The Bests.” One is about Best Practices for Plan Sponsors, while the other is about the Best...more