Labor Dept. Gives Relief to Five Banks Handling Retirement Money

Five of the largest U.S. financial firms can continue doing business managing pension and retirement assets, thanks to exemptions granted by the Labor Department.

Deutsche Bank AG, Citigroup Inc., UBS Assets Management, JPMorgan Chase & Co., and Barclays Capital Inc. can continue to operate as “qualified professional asset managers,” the DOL said in prohibited transaction exemptions issued Dec. 28. The five banks are major players in the retirement industry, providing services to millions of retirement savers, and managing billions of dollars in plan assets.

Each bank had a subsidiary that was convicted of a felony in recent years. When that ...