Investigations of investment advisers by the U.S. Department of Labor are decreasing, but the investigations that are launched are much more likely to find violations, an official in the agency’s Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration said Jan. 28 at an American Law Institute-American Bar Association forum.
Therefore, the appearance of investigators should send warning signals, according to Virginia C. Smith, director of PWBA enforcement. “We are there because we believe something is going on,” she said. The PWBA has regulatory and enforcement authority for the fiduciary, prohibited transaction, and reporting and disclosure provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).
