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Digital EditionNews + Notes: Potential Cannabis Rescheduling, Berkshire Hathaway Amasses Chubb Holding, Insurers Challenge DOL Rule
Biden Administration Moves to Reschedule Cannabis
In May, the Biden administration submitted a proposal to the Federal Register that would see cannabis reclassified from a Schedule I drug to Schedule III.
The change would place it in the same category as prescription drugs such as codeine, ketamine and anabolic steroids.
Organizations that employ drug testing as a condition of employment should be prepared to make accommodations for the use of medical marijuana and update their testing policies accordingly, including making a distinction, where possible, between long-term use and on-the-job intoxication, particularly where worker safety is a concern.
Nondiscrimination policies and accommodations for employees covered under the ADA would also need to be updated to ensure that company actions concerning the use of marijuana are still appropriate under a new status.
Because states’ marijuana laws range from full legalization to approval for medical use to decriminalization to full criminalization, the responses from workers’ comp boards have varied, making it difficult for companies operating in multiple states to develop consistent policies.
Berkshire Hathaway Amasses Shares in Chubb
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway revealed that it has quietly accumulated nearly 26 million shares of insurer Chubb, the world’s largest publicly traded P&C insurer. It is led by Evan Greenberg.
The SEC permitted Berkshire Hathaway to keep this holding confidential while amassing it; Chubb’s shares have risen over 39% since Berkshire began purchasing them in the third quarter of 2023, including a 6.3% jump following Berkshire’s May 15th disclosure.
Berkshire’s stake in Chubb now totals $6.7 billion, making it Berkshire’s ninth-largest holding, equivalent to roughly 2% of its total portfolio.
The purchase also makes Berkshire Hathaway Chubb’s third-largest stakeholder, with 6.4% of Chubb’s total shares.
Insurance Groups Challenge Department of Labor’s Fiduciary Rule
The Department of Labor (DOL) faces a new legal challenge to its recently passed Retirement Security Rule, as nine insurance trade associations — including the American Council of Life Insurers, the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors, the National Association for Fixed Annuities, the Insured Retirement Institute and Finseca — have filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the fiduciary rule.
They say the rule limits consumer choice and access to retirement products, arguing it is contrary to law, arbitrary, capricious and unconstitutional.
The fiduciary rule, as defined by the DOL, imposes fiduciary obligations on insurance agents or broker-dealers who do business in the retirement savings marketplace with employer-sponsored retirement plans and individual retirement accounts.
The plaintiffs argue that the recently passed rule exceeds the DOL’s statutory authority and violates the First Amendment rights of their members.
These plaintiffs — which comprise life insurance companies, insurance agents, brokers and distributors that issue, market and sell insurance and securities products — argue that the rule will drastically raise the costs of assisting consumers and impair consumers’ access to useful information about retirement products.
In a statement, the group said that “by imposing on sales recommendations substantial burdens deemed counterproductive by other regulators, and by redefining essentially all commercial relationships in the retirement savings marketplace as fiduciary, the Rule will drastically and unreasonably raise the costs of assisting consumers; it will deprive many consumers of access to beneficial products (such as annuities); and it will impair consumer access to truthful information about retirement products.”
It seeks to have the fiduciary rule declared invalid and set aside under the Administrative Procedure Act. &
