US Bancorp tells the Supreme Court that mismanaging its pension plan didn’t injure anyone
https://qz.com/1784425/us-bancorp-tells-scotus-that-mismanaging-its-pension-fund-didnt-injure-anyone...
If you’re paying into a retirement fund—or just wish you were—you might think that its managers invest wisely, listen to advisers, and follow the law. And you’d probably expect that the fund managers would face the consequences if they’re shifty and put your benefits at risk.
But it ain’t necessarily so. Or so said counsel for US Bancorp (USB) on Jan. 13 at the Supreme Court, where justices heard oral arguments in a case that pits the bank against beneficiaries of its retirement fund.
The beneficiaries sued for $748 million to restore their pension fund after discovering that, in 2008, managers mishandled money, violating the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and leaving their plan underfunded. Managers ignored investment guidance. They lost $1.1 billion after plowing nearly half of the assets into Bancorp’s own mutual funds—which is self-dealing and illegal—and all fund assets into high-risk equities.
But the bank’s lawyer urged the Supreme Court to find the beneficiaries can’t sue.
Here is the link to the actual Supreme Court summary of the case: Thole v. U.S. Bank, N.A.
