Tyco In DOL Crosshairs

The DoL’s inquiry is centered on losses the conglomerate suffered in its plans, Tyco said in a US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing, according to a Reuters report. In addition to Tyco, the DoL has also served a document subpoena to Fidelity Management Trust in connection with its pension fund investigation.

DoL Action

The DoL has been active in its recent efforts to investigate retirement plan losses at some of the nation’s largest companies.    In June, the agency filed suit against a host of players in an attempt to recover retirement plan losses at Enron (See  DOL Comes Out Guns Blazing in Enron Suit ).

In that lawsuit, the DoL alleges that the defendants violated ERISA when they failed to consider the prudence of Enron stock as an appropriate investment for the retirement plans and did nothing to protect the workers and retirees from extensive losses.

The suit, filed in federal district court in Houston, seeks a court order requiring the defendants to restore to the plans all losses with interest, forfeit their right to benefits from the plans and permanently bar them from serving as fiduciaries to any plan governed by ERISA.