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Dec 22, 2017

Merrill Lynch fined $26 million over suspicious transactions

The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority have censured Merrill Lynch and slapped it with penalties totaling $26 million over its anti-money-laundering policies and procedures. The SEC and Finra, which each fined the firm $13 million, said that Merrill Lynch had anti-money laundering policies and procedures in place from 2011 to 2015 that were "not reasonably designed to account for the additional risk associated with the additiona

Eric Hahn

Nov 21, 2017

Wells Fargo sued, again, for using in-house funds in 401(k) plan

Just as Wells Fargo & Co. escaped from the jaws of one 401(k) lawsuit over in-house funds, it's now ensnared in another. In a rare move, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit against the company in May alleging breach of fiduciary duty for self-dealing, whereby it profited from proprietary target-date funds at the expense of employees. Now, another participant, on behalf of a class of similarly situated individuals, has filed suit, similarly alleging that use of high-cost, unde

Eric Hahn

Nov 8, 2017

J.P. Morgan settles lawsuit on alleged fiduciary breach in stable value funds

An ERISA class-action lawsuit against J.P. Morgan Chase alleging a breach of fiduciary duty in its stable value fund by a class of participants has been settled for $75 million, a court document announcing the agreed settlement shows. The settlement by plaintiffs in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York would bring to an end a years-long class-action lawsuit in which participants alleged improper investments by J.P. Morgan's stable value fund between J

Eric Hahn

Aug 17, 2017

Tibble vs. Edison Plaintiffs Win the Latest Decision in District Court

https://www.plansponsor.com/tibble-vs-edison-plaintiffs-win-the-latest-decision-in-district-court/ The latest ruling in Tibble vs. Edison comes out of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, applying the now-famous “distinct duty to monitor” standard set forth by the U.S. Supreme Court on an appeal of the very same litigation. By way of background, the pioneering lawsuit has played out over the last full decade, filed first in the California district c

Eric Hahn

Jul 5, 2017

Revenue Sharing Spurring 401k Lawsuits with More to Come

With the focus on 401k and 403b lawsuits, it may be time for employers sponsoring a corporate retirement plan to get out of the line of fire by eliminating revenue sharing altogether. And if you think that these lawsuits are going away anytime soon, think again – a major 401k plaintiff’s law firm has issued a press release aimed at participants in plans using Financial Engines as their managed account provider inviting them to join class action lawsuits. So how can plan spons

Eric Hahn

Jun 12, 2017

Merrill Lynch to settle 401(k) lawsuit for $25 million

Merrill Lynch has agreed to a $25 million settlement in a 401(k) lawsuit alleging the firm breached its fiduciary duties when it failed to ensure a small-retirement-plan client received mutual-fund sales discounts to which it was entitled. The plaintiffs — trustees for the LAAD Retirement Plans, which held accounts with Merrill Lynch — sought disgorgement or restitution from Merrill Lynch for any ill-gotten gains and excessive payments made due to the allegations of fiduciary

Eric Hahn

Oct 5, 2016

Lawsuit Dropped After Contractor Pays 401(k) Plan Contributions

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has filed a proposed order of dismissal of a lawsuit in which it alleged a government contractor failed to make required contributions to its 401(k) plan. B.C. Inc. restored to the plan unremitted employer contributions, with lost earnings, totaling approximately $149,904. The DOL filed a complaint earlier this year alleging that Tarry Bratton, B.C. Inc. and the B.C. Inc. 401(k) Profit Sharing Plan violated the Employee Retirement Income Sec

Eric Hahn

Sep 29, 2016

UBS Hit with $15M Fine Over Complex Products Sales

The SEC has doled out $15 million in penalties to UBS for failing to supervise its staff in selling complex products to inexperienced clients, the Financial Times writes. The regulator says UBS advisors peddled $550 million worth of reverse convertible notes, which included embedded derivates tied to implied volatility, to 8,743 unsophisticated retail customers, according to the newspaper. The SEC charges that many of these clients lacked investing experience and had moderate

Eric Hahn

Sep 29, 2016

MassMutual settles 401(k) suit with its employees for $31 million

Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. has agreed to a nearly $31 million settlement in an excessive-fee lawsuit involving the firm's own retirement plans, joining the ranks of other prominent retirement services providers that have settled allegations over their company 401(k) plans. The class-action suit, Dennis Gordan et al v. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. et al, concerned two of MassMutual's retirement plans: the$2.2 billion Thrift Plan and the $200 million Age

Eric Hahn

Aug 23, 2016

Edward Jones faces proposed class action lawsuit over excessive 401(k) fees

Edward Jones is being sued by a participant in the company's 401(k) plan for allegedly causing employees to pay high fees for investment management and record-keeping services that supposedly cost them millions in retirement savings. Many of the allegations in proposed class-action lawsuit, McDonald v. Edward D. Jones & Co. L.P. et al, which was filed Aug. 19 in Missouri district court, will be familiar to those following other excessive-fee cases against sponsors of multibil

Eric Hahn

Aug 12, 2016

Duke, Johns Hopkins, UPenn and Vanderbilt latest schools under fire for excessive 403(b) fees

It's been two days since Yale, MIT and NYU were sued for excessive fees in their retirement plans, and lawyers have already added four more to the pile: Duke University, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Pennsylvania and Vanderbilt University. The same law firm, Schlichter, Bogard & Denton, is responsible for each of the seven university lawsuits, which allege breach of fiduciary duty under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 for allowing the plan to

Eric Hahn

Jul 20, 2016

Cetera, plan sponsor sued for excessive fees in $25 million 401(k)

For the second time in two months, a small 401(k) plan is at the center of a lawsuit alleging excessive plan fees. The independent broker-dealer, Cetera Advisor Networks, has been named as a co-defendant — a move experts call a twist of sorts from other 401(k) litigation. The suit alleges fiduciaries of the $25 million Checksmart 401(k) plan breached their duties under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 by allowing “grossly excessive” fees to be charged for i

Eric Hahn

May 24, 2016

Retirement Plan Excessive Fee Suits Move Down Market

In many of the retirement plan excessive fee suits involving large plans, it is argued that the size of the plans' portfolios gives them real bargaining power to negotiate lower fees for investments and administration. A new lawsuit argues that a $9 million dollar plan also has the ability to negotiate for substantially lower fees than an individual would pay. The primary argument in Damberg v. LaMettry’s Collision, Inc. is that LaMettry’s 401(k) plan used higher-priced retai

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Welcome to our blog

Better Information = Better Decisions!

Merrill Lynch fined $26 million over suspicious transactions

Wells Fargo sued, again, for using in-house funds in 401(k) plan

J.P. Morgan settles lawsuit on alleged fiduciary breach in stable value funds

Tibble vs. Edison Plaintiffs Win the Latest Decision in District Court

Revenue Sharing Spurring 401k Lawsuits with More to Come

Merrill Lynch to settle 401(k) lawsuit for $25 million

Lawsuit Dropped After Contractor Pays 401(k) Plan Contributions

UBS Hit with $15M Fine Over Complex Products Sales

MassMutual settles 401(k) suit with its employees for $31 million

Edward Jones faces proposed class action lawsuit over excessive 401(k) fees

Duke, Johns Hopkins, UPenn and Vanderbilt latest schools under fire for excessive 403(b) fees

Cetera, plan sponsor sued for excessive fees in $25 million 401(k)

Retirement Plan Excessive Fee Suits Move Down Market

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