News & Analysis as of

Fiduciary Duty Retirement Plan Environmental Social & Governance (ESG)

Nossaman LLP

Relying on Loper, Fifth Circuit Sends Chevron-based decision Back to District Court, calling ESG Rule into Question

Nossaman LLP on

On July 18, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (“Fifth Circuit”) vacated a decision by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas (“District Court”) that upheld the U.S. Department of Labor’s...more

Goodwin

Minding the Store: Unanticipated ESG Issues Affecting ERISA Fiduciary Supervision

Goodwin on

A recent summary judgment decision from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas in an ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act) class action challenging the alleged impact of environmental, social,...more

Mayer Brown

Northern District of Texas Expands Fiduciary Exposure by Permitting ESG Proxy Voting Theory to Go to Trial

Mayer Brown on

Case Name and Number: Spence v. American Airlines, Inc., et al., No. 4:23-cv-00552 - INTRODUCTION - On June 20, 2024, Judge Reed O’Connor in the Northern District of Texas (the “court”) denied a motion for summary...more

Mintz

Federal Judge Certifies Class Objecting to ESG Investments by Retirement Fund

Mintz on

On May 22, 2024, Judge O'Connor (N.D. Tex.) ordered that the plaintiffs claiming that investment managers breached their fiduciary duty due to their ESG-focused investing be certified as a class for purposes of the...more

Mintz

Oklahoma Judge Temporarily Blocks Law Penalizing Companies Engaged in Fossil Fuel Boycott

Mintz on

Earlier this week, a state court judge in Oklahoma issued a temporary restraining order that blocks--for now--enforcement of an Oklahoma law that deprives companies deemed to boycott the fossil fuel industry of the ability to...more

Morgan Lewis

ESG Investing: The US Regulatory Perspective

Morgan Lewis on

As companies increasingly encounter dialogue regarding environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors, they and their investors and other stakeholders face the task of navigating the sometimes-contradictory web of...more

Mayer Brown

Decision Alert: Northern District of Texas Expands Fiduciary Liability To Cover Non-ESG Fund Managers’ ESG-Related Conduct

Mayer Brown on

Case Name and Number: Spence v. American Airlines, Inc., et al., No. 4:23-cv-00552 - Introduction - On February 21, 2024, Judge Reed O’Connor in the Northern District of Texas (the “Court”) denied a motion to dismiss an...more

Morgan Lewis

The ESG Investing Debate: 2023 Year-end Updates

Morgan Lewis on

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing has been subject to increased US state and federal regulation over the last several years, and 2023 continued that status quo. As of January 1, 2024, 20 states have...more

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

Texas Federal Judge: DOL ESG Investing Rule Does Not Violate ERISA

On September 21, 2023, a Texas federal court dismissed an action commenced by more than two dozen Republican state attorneys general challenging a 2022 Department of Labor (DOL) Rule that addressed consideration of ESG...more

Cozen O'Connor

Republican AGs Appeal to the Fifth Circuit on Labor Department’s ESG Investment Rule

Cozen O'Connor on

A coalition of 25 Republican AGs filed an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in their lawsuit against the Department of Labor that challenges the implementation of a rule permitting retirement plan...more

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

American Airlines Moves to Dismiss Suit Challenging Inclusion of ESG Funds in Retirement Plan

In August 2023, American Airlines, Inc. moved to dismiss a class action lawsuit filed against the airline for allegedly jeopardizing employees’ retirement savings by investing in environmental, social and governance (ESG)...more

Groom Law Group, Chartered

Biden ESG Rule Shows Some Staying Power

On September 21, 2023, the District Court for the Northern District of Texas rejected a challenge brought by 26 states that argued that the Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) 2022 Prudence and Loyalty in Selecting Plan Investments...more

Nossaman LLP

Federal Court Rejects States’ Challenge to DOL’s ESG Investing Rule

Nossaman LLP on

On September 21, 2023, a federal judge in Texas granted summary judgment in, and thus dismissed, a lawsuit filed by the Attorneys General of 25 states and other interested parties challenging a final rule issued by the U.S....more

Seward & Kissel LLP

Action Steps for Managers of Private Investment Funds Subject to ERISA Prior to December 1, 2023 to Address the DOL’s Rule...

Seward & Kissel LLP on

If you manage a private investment fund that is subject to Title I of ERISA and is not a feeder fund (an “ERISA Fund”), you should, before December 1, 2023, take the steps described below in order to comply with the DOL’s...more

Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP

Republicans Reintroduce House Bill to Limit ESG Considerations in Retirement Investing

On June 21, two Republican members of Congress renewed efforts to enact legislation that arguably would restrict investment managers from taking into account ESG considerations in investing on behalf of retirement funds. U.S....more

Jones Day

Congressional Republicans and State Attorneys General Challenge Biden Administration's ESG 401(k) Rule

Jones Day on

Republicans at the state and federal levels are challenging a Biden administration rule (the "Rule") intended to walk back Trump-era regulations restricting the ability of retirement fund managers to consider climate change...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

ESG: Important New Considerations for Employers

Consideration of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues is becoming increasingly important for companies when conducting business and in dealings with investors and employees. The increased emphasis on ESG poses...more

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive...

[Podcast] DOL’s 2022 Final ESG Rules

In this episode of The Proskauer Benefits Brief, Proskauer partners Ira Bogner and Adam Scoll and law clerk Tanusha Yarlagadda discuss the Department of Labor’s final ESG rules issued on November 22, 2022, and how those rules...more

Robinson Bradshaw

Fiduciary Fundamentals: The Basics

Robinson Bradshaw on

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) is a body of federal laws and regulations that govern the provision and operation of certain employer-sponsored benefit plans. While its structure and requirements...more

Burns & Levinson LLP

Client Advisory: ERISA Fiduciaries and ESG Investing

Burns & Levinson LLP on

Fiduciaries responsible for the investment of almost $30 trillion in U.S. retirement funds are required by federal law (ERISA) to discharge their duties “solely in the interest of participants and beneficiaries” for the...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

The thing about ESG

While the Biden administration’s Department of Labor (DOL) final environmental, social, and governance (ESG) rule went into effect, I think it’s much to do about nothing....more

BakerHostetler

The Growing Threat to ESG Initiatives

BakerHostetler on

On Jan. 26, 2023, twenty-four states sued the Department of Labor to block a new rule allowing retirement plans to consider environmental, social, and governance concepts (known as ESG) when administering plan assets. The...more

Latham & Watkins LLP

DOL Final Rule on ESG Factors to Take Effect February 1, 2023

Latham & Watkins LLP on

The Final Rule clarifies the application of ERISA’s fiduciary duties of prudence and loyalty to the selection of plan investments that incorporate ESG goals. On November 22, 2022, the US Department of Labor (DOL) released a...more

Ary Rosenbaum - The Rosenbaum Law Firm P.C.

Avoid the nonsense about anti-ESG rhetoric

My wife forwarded me an op-ed piece, criticizing the Biden administration rule change on ESG investments in 401(k) plans. Obviously, the person writing it doesn’t understand how 401(k) plans work. ...more

A&O Shearman

DOL Finalizes ESG Rule for ERISA Plan Fiduciaries

A&O Shearman on

The Department of Labor (the DOL) has released its final rule clarifying how and when ERISA fiduciaries may consider ESG factors in making investment decisions for a plan. The rule also offers substantial guidance on the...more

92 Results
 / 
View per page
Page: of 4

"My best business intelligence, in one easy email…"

Your first step to building a free, personalized, morning email brief covering pertinent authors and topics on JD Supra:
*By using the service, you signify your acceptance of JD Supra's Privacy Policy.
- hide
- hide