The Department of Labor is considering extending an exemption to allow Deutsche Bank to continue providing asset management services to U.S. retirement plans.
Exemptions for qualified professional asset managers, known as QPAMs, are required if an asset manager's affiliates or parent company is convicted on criminal charges.
Deutsche Bank, a Germany-based global banking and financial services company, has several affiliated asset managers, including DWS Investment Management Americas, that provide services to ERISA-covered retirement plans.
DB Group Services (UK), a wholly owned subsidiary of Deutsche Bank, pleaded guilty to wire fraud charges from the U.S. Department of Justice in 2017. Subsequently, in 2021, the Labor Department granted the bank a QPAM exemption, which is set to expire this April.
The department is now considering extending that exemption to April 2027, according to a document from the DOL's Employee Benefits Security Administration.
DWS Investment Management Americas said it has displayed a "clean compliance record," according to the document, and that retirement plans will incur costs if the exemption extension is not granted.
First created in 1984, the QPAM exemption allows institutions to engage in transactions that involve retirement assets from 401(k) plans, IRAs or corporate pension plans otherwise prohibited under ERISA.
Comments and requests for a public hearing on the proposed exemption are due 45 days after publication in the Federal Register.
