Project 2025 Tracker / What’s done, what’s next

18. Department of Labor and Related Agencies · Notable

Issue clear ESOP valuation and fiduciary conduct regulations

Attempted

611 18. Department of Labor and Related Agencies

“Provide clear regulations for ESOP valuation and fiduciary conduct. DOL should make it easier for employers to offer ESOPs by providing clear regulations for ESOP valuation and fiduciary conduct that encourages the participation of employee beneficiaries in corporate governance, while recognizing the importance of financial diversification for retirement security.”

What has happened

  1. Attempted

    The Employee Benefits Security Administration carries an ESOP rulemaking on its agenda — RIN 1210-AC20, "Worker Ownership, Readiness, and Knowledge: Proposed Regulation Relating to the Definition of Adequate Consideration" — which would define "adequate consideration" under ERISA section 3(18)(B), the good-faith fair market value standard that governs what an ESOP may pay for its sponsor's shares. It implements section 346 of the SECURE 2.0 Act, is at Proposed Rule Stage with an NPRM scheduled for November 2026, and had published nothing by 2026-08-31. Nothing addresses the fiduciary-conduct half of the Quote.

Research log

What was searched, and what didn’t count as evidence

Research notes

  • RIN 1210-AC20 read in full at reginfo.gov/public/do/eAgendaViewRule?pubId=202510&RIN=1210-AC20. The abstract confirms the object is ESOP valuation; the timetable line is “NPRM 11/00/2026”.
  • Boundary worth naming: an agenda entry is a dated, formal commitment to a named rule with no published NPRM behind it. Chapter 10 read that as attempted and the clause is with ticket 26 rather than settled in §3b. If a reviewer decides an agenda entry is not a step, this item drops to not started. Flagged to the spot-check register.
  • The rulemaking is long-running: the same RIN appeared under the previous administration with the same statutory driver, so the commitment is a continuation rather than a new initiative. That is a reason to level it no higher than attempted.
  • Open (scan triage 2026-10-12; review read the enrolled text): S. 2403 awaits signature. The Retire through Ownership Act passed the Senate by unanimous consent on 2025-10-09 and the House under suspension on 2026-09-16 (401–14, roll call 314), and was presented to the President on 2026-10-05. congress.gov shows no later action as of 2026-10-12. No row printed it; its title shares no phrase with this ask. The enrolled text (https://www.congress.gov/119/bills/s2403/BILLS-119s2403enr.htm) adds ERISA section 3(18)(B): an ESOP fiduciary “may make a good faith reliance on a valuation provided by an independent valuation expert or business appraiser” that followed IRS Revenue Ruling 59-60 in setting fair market value. It sets that standard itself rather than directing DOL; it leaves DOL free to interpret it by notice-and-comment rule, expands none of DOL’s authority, and expressly does not modify fiduciary duties under section 404. If signed, the valuation half is delivered by statute, partial by other means (playbook §3), with the fiduciary-conduct half untouched. The ten-day clock (Sundays excepted) runs to about 2026-10-16; a pocket veto is possible only if Congress has adjourned. A later round should look for the public law number.
Action
issue
Object
ESOP valuation and fiduciary conduct regulations
ID
1685