William E. Brock, Secretary of the United States Department of Labor v. Dennis Walton

The Secretary of Labor brought this appeal for the purpose of obtaining a decision as to whether the requirement that ERISA trustees charge a “reasonable rate of interest” on loans to pension plan participants means they must charge “the prevailing or market rate of interest.” Holding that the two terms are not synonymous and that a reasonable rate of interest may be below the prevailing market rate, we affirm the decision of the district court that the defendant trustees did not violate their fiduciary duties under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), 29 U.S.C.A. §…