Bloomberg Quotes Tax & Benefits Partner Josh Lichtenstein on Qualified Professional Asset Manager Exemption

An article published by Bloomberg on Dec. 20 titled “BNP Paribas Says It Will Lose Access to Some U.S. Pension Assets” reports that BNP Paribas SA will have a harder time managing American pension assets after being informed by the U.S. Labor Department that it would no longer be eligible for a Qualified Professional Asset Manager exemption. The implementation of this rarely used power follows BNP Paribas USA’s January 2018 guilty plea to the manipulation of foreign currency prices. The article includes insights from tax & benefits partner Josh Lichtenstein, who advises asset managers on prohibited transaction rules under ERISA and related exemptions. “It’s a pretty severe consequence because the exemption is so widely used and well understood.”