PLANADVISER - March/April 2022 - 10

compliance news //
81-8, 95-60, 97-41 and 2006-16 include
references to, or require reliance on,
credit ratings.
Each class exemption had provided
relief for a transaction involving a
financial instrument, and, in each such
exemption, the DOL had conditioned
exemptive relief on the financial
instrument, or its issuer, receiving a
specified minimum credit rating.
For one example, PTE 2006-16
required foreign sovereign debt
securities for foreign collateral used in
securities lending transactions to be
rated in one of the two highest categories
of at least one nationally recognized
standards reporting organization.
The DOL's proposed amendment
requirement,
replaces
this
in PTE
2006-16 Section V(f)(4), with one
stating that the security be " subject to
a minimal amount of credit risk and
sufficiently liquid that such securities
can be sold at or near their fair
market value in the ordinary course of
business within seven calendar days. "
The DOL says it is adopting the
amendments as proposed, with
minor changes to address comments
received. It notes that a fiduciary
may still consider credit risk when
analyzing credit quality but only as
one of the variety of pertinent factors.
The agency declined to define
" minimal credit risk, " because, it says,
" fiduciaries should be able to determine
whether a security satisfies this standard
based [on] its analysis of the issuer's
ability to repay its debt obligations. "
Climate-Related Disclosure Rules
On March 21, the Securities and
Exchange Commission voted to
propose key rule amendments that
would require a domestic or foreign
registrant to include certain climaterelated
information in its registration
statements and periodic reports, such
as on Form 10-K.
Examples of the information to be
disclosed include the actual or likely
material impact of climate-related
risks on the registrant's business,
strategy and outlook. The registrant
also must disclose its governance of
climate-related risks and relevant
risk management processes, along
with its greenhouse gas emissions;
2021 created the Special
Financial
... a fiduciary
may still consider
credit risk when
analyzing credit
quality but only as
one of the variety
of pertinent
factors.
for accelerated, and large accelerated,
filers, certain greenhouse gas emissions
would be subject to assurance.
Additionally, the amendments,
as summarized by an SEC fact sheet,
would require: climate-related
financial statement metrics and
related
disclosures
to
accompany
the registered entity's audited
financial statements; the disclosure
of information about climate-related
targets and goals, plus the processes
the registrant uses to identify, assess
and manage the risks; disclosure of
the processes, if the registrant has
a transition plan, that will be used,
including metrics and targets for
identifying and managing any physical
and transition risks; and other
disclosures.
The proposal has quickly generated
both positive and negative feedback
from stakeholders in the financial
services and investment management
marketplace.
'Pension Tracker' for Rescued Plans
Members of the House Education and
Labor Committee unveiled that body's
new Multiemployer Pension Rescue
Tracker-an updatable list of the plans
receiving special financial assistance.
The American Rescue Plan Act of
Assistance Program, managed by the
Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation,
to protect severely underfunded
pension plans that are in danger of
becoming insolvent. The ARPA allows
such plans to receive a lump sum of
money to make benefit payments to
participants through 2051.
The tracker spotlights the number of
participants who receive benefits from
defined benefit plans that have been
protected-10,338 participants in pension
plans covering 181 businesses so far.
" The committee's Multiemployer Pension
Rescue Tracker will
help
illustrate
the impact of this transformative
solution, " says Representative Robert
Scott, D-Virginia, chair of the House
Education and Labor Committee.
Before passage of the American
Rescue Plan Act, the PBGC multiemployer
program was projected to
become insolvent in fiscal year 2026.
The agency has said, thanks to the act,
the program will now likely remain
solvent for more than 30 years.
SCOTUS Refuses CalSavers Lawsuit
The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to
accept an appeal of a lawsuit involving
the CalSavers Retirement Savings
Program. The court's refusal stops an
advocacy organization's effort to halt
the program, which provides workplace
retirement savings for private-sector
workers whose employers offer no
retirement plan.
Launched in July 2019, CalSavers is
available to self-employed individuals
and to California workers with no
employer plan. Under the program,
savers contribute to an individual
retirement account that belongs to
them, with payroll deferrals being
facilitated by their employer.
The move by the Supreme Court
comes after the 9th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals affirmed a lower
court's dismissal of claims by a group
that sought to block the program's
implementation. The lawsuit, filed
by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers
Association, aimed to block CalSavers
on the grounds that the federal
Employee Retirement Income Security
Act pre-empts it, thereby invalidating
the program. -PA
10 | planadviser.com March-April 2022
http://www.planadviser.com
PLANADVISER - March/April 2022

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