Greg Daugherty, our colleague at Employee Benefits Law Report shared a post exploring whether or not the Department of Labor (DOL) under President Trump will continue to make employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) a compliance priority.
A recently filed case suggests that the DOL may continue to make a priority out of investigating potential abuses in ESOP transactions. As such, employers who are considering the adoption of the ESOP should be mindful of putting together an experienced team to guide them through the fiduciary issues. In particular, it is critical for the trustee of an ESOP to hire an independent appraiser that has not performed a preliminary ESOP feasibility study for the company, and the trustee and other fiduciaries of the ESOP should be engaged with the due diligence process.