Insights Past Issues

As Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) performance becomes more prominent, institutional investors, asset managers, financial institutions, and other stakeholders are increasingly looking at ESG factors in making investment and lending decisions. In doing so, these entities are relying on a number of information sources, including ESG ratings and reports.

On April 13, the Department of Labor released guidance on the prohibited transaction exemption pertaining to fiduciary investment advice for retirement investors, employee benefit plans and investment advice providers. 

At today’s Earth Day Climate Summit, President Joe Biden announced to world leaders that the United States is committed to cutting its greenhouse gas emissions by 50% to 52% from 2005 levels by 2030.

Last week the Loan Syndications and Trading Association, the Loan Market Association, and the Asia Pacific Loan Market Association jointly published their first ever Social Loan Principles.

On April 14, the U.S. Department of Labor announced guidance for plan sponsors, plan fiduciaries, record keepers, and plan participants on best practices for maintaining cybersecurity, including tips on how to protect the retirement benefits of participants.

On April 9, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission Division of Examinations issued a Risk Alert highlighting observations made by the Division from recent examinations of investment advisers, registered investment companies, and private funds offering products and services that incorporate environmental, social, and governance factors.

The Securities and Exchange Commission this month announced that the Divisions of Corporation Finance, Examinations, and Enforcement are all undertaking climate or ESG-related initiatives. 

The Department of Labor announced that it will not enforce its previously issued final rule regarding plan fiduciaries’ use of environmental, social and governance factors in selecting investments for tax‑qualified retirement plans.

On March 12, the Occupational Safety and Health Commission announced a National Emphasis Program for COVID-19. The NEP is in response to an Executive Order issued by President Biden directing the Secretary of Labor to launch a national program to focus OSHA enforcement efforts related to COVID-19 on industries with the largest numbers of workers at serious risk.

Environmental, Social and Governance investing in the United States has reportedly reached an estimated $250 billion in assets under management and is expected to see continued growth in 2021 and beyond. 

On October 30, the Department of Labor issued a final rule which amends its 1979 investment duties regulation under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended, to update and clarify its position with respect to ERISA plan fiduciaries’ use of environmental, social and governance factors in selecting investments.

The Department of Labor proposed a new investment advice fiduciary rule, which generally reinstates the DOL’s longstanding investment advice fiduciary test and provides a new prohibited transaction exemption for such fiduciaries.

As Employers are facing unprecedented health and safety issues in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic and the rapidly changing nature of government mandates put in place to contain the spread of the virus, the United States Department of Labor, Occupational Safety and Health Administration has issued Guidance on Preparing Workplaces for COVID-19. 

This Client Alert covers the new rules that apply to decanting. It is the fifth installment in a six-part series on the new Illinois Trust Code.

This Client Alert covers the new rules that apply to beneficiary representation. It is the fourth installment in a six-part series on the new Illinois Trust Code.

This Alert covers the new rules that apply to the modification or termination of irrevocable trusts. It is the third installment in a six-part series on the new Illinois Trust Code.

This Alert covers the newly created powers granted to a trustee under the ITC, a well as the previously existing, but now codified, powers. This Alert is the second installment in a six-part series on the new Illinois Trust Code, a version of the Uniform Trust Code.

Last week, Governor Pritzker signed HB 1471, giving Illinois new trust laws as of January 1, 2020. This Alert is the first installment in a six-part series on the new Illinois Trust Code, a version of the Uniform Trust Code.

Pension shortfalls. Crumbling infrastructure. Wage pressures. These are only a few of the budgetary pressures facing state and local governments. It’s no surprise that, with so many demands on limited tax dollars, funds needed to address social problems are being diverted.

Overlooked in the many discussions about the new tax laws are the consequences on trusts and estates and the high likelihood trusts and their beneficiaries will see larger income tax bills for the next seven years. This Client Alert focuses on how the tax changes will impact trusts and estates, identify some of the significant uncertainties and provide recommendations for fiduciaries.

The Department of Labor published its proposal to delay for 18‑months the more onerous provisions of the exemptions that were issued in connection with the DOL’s fiduciary rule. The exemptions were supposed to be fully effective January 1, 2018. Instead, the DOL has proposed that they become fully effective July 1, 2019.

The Department of Labor recently issued another set of FAQs, focusing on advisors to 401(k) plans. The FAQs generally address two issues. 

In a court filing on August 9, the Department of Labor notified the court that it recently submitted proposed amendments to the three exemptions to its fiduciary rule to the Office of Management and Budget.

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced that it is requesting comments from retail investors and other interested parties on the standards of conduct applicable for broker-dealers and investment advisers.

Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta confirmed in an Op-Ed in the Wall Street Journal that the Department of Labor fiduciary rule will become applicable on June 9. Along with the Op-Ed, the DOL issued new Conflict of Interest FAQs related to the June 9, 2017 to January 1, 2018 transition period and Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2017-2.

This white paper addresses pay for success legislation that has been adopted at the state level, pointing out the various functions of the pay for success financing structure and how individual states have treated these components within their legislation.

Yesterday the Department of Labor released the final rule delaying the applicability of the DOL fiduciary rule and the related prohibited transaction exemptions to June 9, 2017. The rule was originally set to become applicable on April 10, 2017.

The Department of Labor announced a proposed 60-day delay of the applicability date of the DOL fiduciary rule and related exemptions. The DOL has allowed a 15-day comment period providing all interested parties an opportunity to comment on the proposed delay.

President Trump issued a memorandum directing the Department of Labor to conduct an analysis of the fiduciary rule’s potential impact. Depending on the results of its examination, the memorandum instructs the DOL to publish for notice and comment a proposed rule to rescind or revise the rule. 

The Department of Labor released on January 13 two sets of frequently asked questions to provide additional guidance on its new fiduciary rule. One set of FAQs is directed at consumers to better help them understand the Rule. The other set of FAQs is directed at financial service providers to address the regulation defining “investment advice.” 

The staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Investment Management has released guidance focused on disclosure issues and certain procedural requirements associated with mutual funds implementing intermediary‑specific variations to sales loads and adding new share classes.

On November 22, Judge Mazzant III issued a preliminary injunction halting the Department of Labor's impending overtime rule from going into effect nationwide. The rule would raise the salary basis threshold for “white collar” overtime exemptions from $455 per week ($23,660 annually) to $921 per week ($47,892 annually).

On October 27, the Department of Labor issued its first wave of FAQs to address certain questions that have arisen with respect to the DOL’s previously issued fiduciary rule. Generally, the Rule broadly defines who is a fiduciary under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act and the Internal Revenue Code.

On September 20, 2016, 21 states filed a suit to block the Department of Labor’s rule for “white collar” overtime exemptions from going into effect. The four‑count complaint pending in the Eastern District of Texas seeks a declaratory judgment that would prohibit the rule from going into effect, or at least prohibit the rule from applying to the states.

On August 25, after approximately five years of litigation concluding with a 25-day bench trial, Judge Peter G. Sheridan issued the opinion of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey in the first trial of a “manager-of-managers” theory of liability for breach of fiduciary duty.

Following the implementation of Dodd-Frank's rules and regulations and the initial wave of SEC examinations of municipal advisors, management and compliance personnel are navigating through the rules while continuing to run their business and service clients.

The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations recently issued a Risk Alert announcing that they will be undertaking an examination initiative focused on the risk that registered advisers may be making conflicted recommendations to their clients.

On May 18, 2016, the Department of Labor issued the final version of the its overtime rule, which officially raises the salary basis threshold for “white collar” overtime exemptions to $47,476 per year, or $913 per week, increasing the applicability of the Fair Labor Standards Act to an additional 4.2 million employees. 

This alert addresses several frequently asked questions related to sales of unit investment trusts registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940 by those persons deemed fiduciaries under the U.S. Department of Labor's recently released fiduciary rule.

Today the U.S. Department of Labor released its highly anticipated final rule to define the term “fiduciary” and address conflicts of interest in providing investment advice to retirement accounts.

In a move that has been anticipated for months, on March 15, 2016, the Department of Labor took one of the final steps toward making its new overtime rules a reality. 

On June 30, 2015, the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that overhauls the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime regulations. 

As providers of utility service to federal government offices, most investor owned utility companies are “federal contractors” subject to the Equal Opportunity rules established and enforced by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs.

On January 9, 2014, the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board proposed Rule G-42, defining the fiduciary duties of municipal advisors to municipal entity clients and the duties and responsibilities owed to all municipal advisory clients.

The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has released its proposed rule on the duties of municipal advisors. 

On August 10th, the Governor signed Public Act 97-0921 (former HB 4662 and 4663) making Illinois one of a growing number of states with statutes that address directed trusts and trust decanting. These new statutes will go into effect January 1, 2013. This client alert covers the directed trust statute.

The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) requires the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) to conduct a study of legal and regulatory requirements applicable to broker-dealers, investment advisers, and associated persons who provide personalized investment advice and recommendations about securities to retail customers.