U.S. Labor Department provides guidance on fiduciary duties in response to abuses involving the Madoff investment firm

The following news release was published by the Employee Benefits Security Administration on Feb. 5, 2009. It is reproduced in full below.

Washington – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), today announced guidance on the duties of employee benefit plan fiduciaries in light of alleged abuses involving Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC.

The department is providing guidance to fiduciaries, investment managers and other investment service providers to plans who believe they may have exposure to losses on investments with entities related to the Madoff firm. The guidance also provides steps that can be taken to assess and protect the interests of plans, participants and beneficiaries under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).

The guidance is available on EBSA’s Web site at www.dol.gov/ebsa under Compliance Assistance.

Source: Employee Benefits Security Administration