19.01.2021 03.46 GMT+0000

Recent guidance from the DOL illustrates the outgoing administration’s desire to leave its mark.

Outgoing Administration Offers a Few Parting Shots

Outgoing Administration Offers a Few Parting Shots

Recent guidance from the DOL illustrates the outgoing administration’s desire to leave its mark.

Over the past few months the Department of Labor has issued three pieces of guidance that are (potentially) significant for plan sponsors and plan fiduciaries. These include final regulations describing new restrictions on the use of environmental, social and governance factors (“ESG”) in the selection of plan investments, an interpretative bulletin) containing new rules for plan fiduciaries with respect to proxy voting, and a class-wide prohibited transaction exemption permitting fiduciaries to receive (otherwise prohibited) forms of compensation--such as commissions. These three pieces of guidance may prove to be significant--if they are ever allowed to go into effect.