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Sean D. Reyes
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AG Reyes Takes Next Step in Lawsuit Over Risky ESG Retirement Investing

February 21, 2023

Today, Utah Attorney General Sean D. Reyes took the next step in his previously announced lawsuit against the Biden Administration by filing a motion for a preliminary injunction to prevent a new U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) rule from risking the retirement savings of more than 150 million Americans.   

The DOL rule requires retirement investors to use Environmental, Social, and Governance (“ESG”) standards, not sound financial investment principles when it comes to retirement investment decisions. The ESG standards prioritize the Biden Administration’s climate and social agenda above healthy retirement savings.  

Under the rule, certain fund managers would be allowed to make investment decisions based on nonfinancial or nonpecuniary factors, such as ESG considerations, even when those decisions are not in the best interests of their clients’ long-term financial stability.  

Federal law—specifically, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”)—has long protected hardworking Americans’ retirement accounts by ensuring that the number one priority of fund administrators is the financial prosperity of those who have entrusted them with their life savings. This new rule directly undermines ERISA and the reasoning behind why Congress enacted it.  

To read the full motion for a preliminary injunction, click here.