There is an old political saying that where you stand depends on where you sit, which, roughly translated, means that people tend to assert positions that are beneficial to their own organizations and employers, rather than based upon a consideration of broader issues. The author of the maxim, Rufus Miles, thinks the idea goes
Fiduciaries
Thoughts From the Beach on the Excessive Fee Cases Against Prestigious Universities
By Stephen Rosenberg on
Back from spending a week in the great state of Maine (you go, Palace Diner!), but even when I am away, “the sun comes up [a]nd the world still spins,” nowhere more, it seems, then in the world of ERISA litigation. So over the next few days, I am going to try…
Moving on From the Churches, the ERISA Plaintiffs’ Bar Takes Aim at the Universities
By Stephen Rosenberg on
Well now. The world’s leading private attorney general of ERISA fee enforcement has now instituted four coordinated lawsuits against the retirement plans of major universities (MIT, Yale, NYU and Duke, as of this writing). I haven’t read the complaints yet, and have only read the industry articles on it (I like this one, and…
Two Reasons Why the Department of Labor’s New Fiduciary Regulations Are Likely to Spawn More Litigation Against Financial Advisers
By Stephen Rosenberg on
I wrote the other day about the Department of Labor’s legal position in response to lawsuits alleging that its new fiduciary regulations are illegal, and in that post, I referred to why the regulations have provoked such an outcry, which is that they fundamentally change the manner in which many financial advisers and financial…
Floating a Few Thoughts on Kelley v. Fidelity
By Stephen Rosenberg on
I don’t have too much to say about the specific details of this opinion in Kelley v. Fidelity Management Trust Company, out of the First Circuit yesterday on a putative class action against Fidelity related to the use of float income from plan transactions. This is particularly because it is primarily a technical decision…
Challenging the Department of Labor’s Authority to Regulate the Annuity Marketplace: National Association for Fixed Annuities v. Thomas Perez and the Department of Labor
By Stephen Rosenberg on
I wrote yesterday on the first complaint filed, in federal court in Texas, challenging the Department of Labor’s new fiduciary regulations, and then within hours, a second such suit was filed. The second suit is a more narrowly targeted action, brought by sellers of fixed annuities and charging that the Department of Labor, for various …
Initial Comments on Chamber of Commerce v. Thomas Perez and the Department of Labor
By Stephen Rosenberg on
There’s a famous saying that war is politics continued by other means, and I have paraphrased it in the past to point out that patent infringement litigation is frequently simply business competition continued by other means. I think it is similarly fair to say that the lawsuit seeking to overturn the Department of Labor’s new …
Excessive Fee Litigation Against Small Plans – Damberg v. LaMettry’s Collision
By Stephen Rosenberg on
My partner, Marcia Wagner, is quoted in this article about a somewhat stunning development, the filing of a class action excessive fee case against a relatively small plan, with around $9 million in assets. I have been asked for some time, by media and by audience members at speaking engagements, if and when we will …
A Brief but Reasonably Thorough Intro to the New Fiduciary Standard Being Issued Today
By Stephen Rosenberg on
Posted in Conflicts of Interest, Fiduciaries
Crazy busy today, but – like someone on the highway slowing down to look at a wreck in the opposite lane even though it is an unnecessary distraction – I of course can’t help but read all the commentary on the new fiduciary rule due out of the DOL today. So for fun – and …
Bell v. Anthem, Excessive Fee Cases, and the Economics of Settlement
By Stephen Rosenberg on
Actuary and blogger John Lowell has a strong post today on the latest high profile excessive fee case filed involving a 401(k) plan, Bell v. Anthem. I will let you read it yourself for the details, but he asks some interesting questions. In one of them, John discusses the borderline nature, at least as …