ERISA

The Supreme Court’s 2014 decision in Fifth Third Bancorp v. Dudenhoeffer rejected a long-held presumption in the U.S. circuit courts that fiduciaries of employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) act prudently in investing in company stock. Instead, the Supreme Court held, ESOP fiduciaries should be subject to the same duty of pru­dence as all ERISA fiduciaries, leaving ESOP fiduciaries vulnerable to plaintiffs testing the new standard.

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