Blog

A recent paper, The Market for Financial Adviser Misconduct (Journal of Political Economy, Publication Forthcoming), raises some important - and troubling - issues about how the financial industry treats advisers who engage in serious misconduct. The paper shows a number of different ways that adviser misconduct is concentrated - among repeat offenders, certain financial firms and geographically. In effect, the...

The efforts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act, piece by piece, continue. Over the past few months the Trump Administration: •      Finalized regulations expanding Association Health Plans (“AHPs”) for unrelated employers; •      Signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, eliminating the individual mandate; •      Finalized regulations expanding short-term limited duration (“STLD”) coverage; •      Stopped payments to insurance carriers for cost sharing subsidies...

The battle over the appropriate standard of conduct for investment advisors and brokers is being waged on a number of fronts - the courts, the Department of Labor, the Securities and Exchange Commission, Congress and various state legislatures. And the arguments and counterarguments used in this battle can be pretty confusing. Adviser or Broker? Guess Which One of the most...

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal reported that Wells Fargo bank was under investigation for practices in the bank’s retirement division. According to the article the investigation focuses on practices intended to move clients into more expensive individual retirement accounts when they retire or leave their jobs. The article also noted that the bank’s retirement plan practices are...

Our last blog (Nature Abhors a Vacuum – and So Should Fiduciaries) discussed the decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to invalidate rules, issued by the U.S. Department of Labor, for financial professionals who sell financial services and products to retirement plan participants. One part of the Court’s rationale was that the conduct of these...

The recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit to invalidate the DOL’s fiduciary rules creates further confusion in an area that had already suffered from an excess of ...confusion. A few things to note in considering this state of affairs: •      The 5th Circuit’s opinion goes to the core of key elements of the fiduciary rule...

On March 15 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit struck down the DOL’s new fiduciary rule. This adds yet more uncertainty and confusion to a regulatory, legal and political tale that already has more than its share of … uncertainty and confusion. This blog post tries to make some sense of what this latest ruling means. What...

The past year has seen a number of articles describing new state laws covering a range of benefits-related areas. Examples include New York State’s new paid leave act and Nevada’s law regulating fiduciary behavior. And more such laws are around the corner - a recent Kaiser Health News article noted that at least nine states were considering proposals to respond...

A new chapter may be opening in the ongoing saga of litigation against plan fiduciaries. This new chapter could lead plan sponsors and advisors to rethink – and expand – their view of the scope of their fiduciary responsibility. On January 10, the plaintiffs in the lawsuit against New York University’s plans filed an amended complaint. The majority of the...

Question: What do employers and James Bond Have in common? Answer: Both have to combat Spectre. However, the problem for employers is that in addition to fighting the new Spectre computer bug, employers must also combat the Meltdown computer bug. And, employers must do so in a way that complies with HIPAA. This blog will explain these cryptic references –...