The Labor Department on April 17 extended an exemption, allowing Deutsche Bank to continue providing asset management services to U.S. retirement plans.
The exemption will take effect April 18 and end in three years on April 17, 2027, according to a notice filed by the department’s Employee Benefits Security Administration.
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.
DWS Investment Management Americas is just one of several asset managers affiliated with Deutsche Bank, a Germany-based global banking and financial services company.
The exemption is needed because in 2017, DB Group Services (UK), a wholly owned subsidiary of Deutsche Bank, pleaded guilty to wire fraud charges from the U.S. Department of Justice. The Labor Department then granted Deutsche Bank a QPAM exemption in 2021, which expired April 17, 2024.
The DOL first proposed extending that exemption in February and considered comments submitted to the department before making its decision, according to the notice.
The QPAM exemption, created in1984, allows firms to engage in transactions involving U.S. retirement assets from 401(k) plans, IRAs or corporate pension plans otherwise prohibited under ERISA. The DOL finalized an amendment earlier this month broadening the types of misconduct that could disqualify a company from using the exemption.
