There were a lot of things on my desk I could post about today, but I am going to take the easy – and self-promoting – way out, and pass along this article from Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly on the W.R. Grace decision out of the First Circuit on the question of standing in ERISA cases,
401(k) Plans
Notes for a Friday
By Stephen Rosenberg on
The First Circuit on ERISA Standing
Very interesting case out of the First Circuit the other day on the question of whether former employees satisfy ERISA standing requirements with regard to defined contribution plans. Short answer is they do, but the Court’s analysis and discussion is an interesting open field run across a range of issues that are both explicit and…
Follow the Numbers: the Evolution in ERISA Law
By Stephen Rosenberg on
I have noted two things – well, many things, only two of which are relevant to this post – in the past, one the line that Marx was wrong about a lot of things, but he was right that everything is economics, and the second that we are beginning to see an incremental evolution in…
There’s A Public/Private Sector Distinction For a Reason
By Stephen Rosenberg on
Posted in 401(k) Plans, Pensions
Two of my favorite bloggers ended up at the same place on a topic of interest over the past week, although from different directions and apparently unwittingly. The WorkPlace Prof posted last week on the idea being floated in a number of state legislatures that the states or their pension plans manage private sector 401(k)…
Millions for Defense, Billions for Damages: State Street’s Exposure
By Stephen Rosenberg on
Backdating. It’s a scandal. No, not that backdating. I mean when bloggers can’t get to something when it first comes up, and then go back in time to talk about it. That’s what I mean by backdating, and that’s what I am going to do today. Last week, I read, but didn’t have a…
LaRue, Auditing, and 401(k) Plans
By Stephen Rosenberg on
Posted in 401(k) Plans
On various occasions on this blog I have tried to turn away from its understandable focus on legal issues and onto the real world consequences of the legal rulings that govern ERISA plans. In particular, I have a particular interest, because of the manner in which it impacts my clients, on what practices companies should…
Big Questions From A Small Story on a (Relatively) Small Loss
By Stephen Rosenberg on
Here’s a short newspaper story of a local municipal pension plan that suffered a $2.4 million loss to its pension fund, which is only about a $53 million fund, as a result of investments in subprime mortgage backed assets made either by State Street or in State Street funds (the article isn’t clear on the…
Excessive Fee Litigation: A Real Problem or An Imaginary One?
By Stephen Rosenberg on
Posted in 401(k) Plans, Fiduciaries
Here’s a piece passed along by the Workplace Prof, noting the rise in excessive fee litigation under ERISA. I have noted before that the combination of demographic and economic factors with the ruling in LaRue is going to create more of these types of actions over the years, not less, and thus I share…
Does Employer Stock Even Belong In Retirement Plans?
By Stephen Rosenberg on
Should there even be employer securities in a 401(k) plan or other retirement vehicle? That’s the million dollar question (or more like the hundred million dollar question) that cases like those arising out of the Bear Stearns collapse raise. Moreover, it goes right to the underlying tension between ERISA and the securities laws that plays…