During Confirmation Hearings, Aronowitz Pledged to “End the War on ESOPs” at DOL, EBSA
The U.S. Senate today confirmed Daniel Aronowitz as Assistant Secretary of Labor to lead the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), the chief regulator of ESOPs. The ESOP Association and its membership have been strongly supportive of Aronowitz since he was first nominated, undertaking concerted grassroots, lobbying, and paid media campaigns on his behalf.
“Dan Aronowitz has a stellar record and a deep understanding of the challenges and obstacles faced by ESOPs as well as companies wanting to transition to employee ownership,” said James Bonham, President and CEO of The ESOP Association. “We congratulate Dan on his confirmation and look forward to working with him and Secretary Chavez-DeRemer to build a regulatory framework that is pro-worker, pro-business, and allows more Americans to experience the transformative benefits of employee ownership through ESOPs.”
Aronowitz’s nomination was advanced by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP) in a bipartisan vote in June. At his confirmation hearing, he noted the existing anti-ESOP bias at the DOL, saying "I believe that Congress wants ESOPs and everybody is for ESOPs except for the DOL for the last 20 years. I will end the war on ESOPs. I think it's the best way for employees to get an additional benefit and ownership in an American company…What the Department is doing is nitpicking the professional judgment of the valuation professionals. I'm going to put an end to that. Because I think unless there is a clear conflict of interest, then the valuation is appropriate when done by an independent valuation firm."
During his confirmation hearing, Aronowitz also highlighted his priorities for ESOP regulation: “First, I will improve EBSA’s enforcement of fiduciary law. We will end the practice of open-ended investigations that go on for years. We will end the bias against ESOPs and other legitimate ways to expand retirement benefits and ownership to America’s workers. And we will end the regulatory abuse of common-interest agreements with plaintiff lawyers. EBSA’s enforcement will be fair, even-handed, and efficient.”
