ERISA

The Department of Labor’s Employee Benefit Security Administration (EBSA) granted a prohibited transaction exemption for certain entities with specified relationships to Deutsche Bank AG.PTE 2015-15, published in the Sept. 4 Federal Register, will allow those entities to continue to rely on PTE 84-... READ MORE

The IRS Employee Plans Compliance Unit (EPCU) is intended to establish a larger IRS presence in the pension plan community. And — no surprise — increase plans’ compliance, according to EPCU Managers Chomyok and Carla Smith. In an Aug. 27 webinar they offered an overview of what EPCU does.EPCU... READ MORE

The Department of Labor (DOL) stands ready to assist state governments when they work to establish public retirement plans for private-sector workers, regardless of whether those plans are covered by ERISA, according to EBSA chief Phyllis Borzi.The White House set the tone with President Obama’s... READ MORE

“You may be aware that the IRS has proposed this. What you may not be aware of is that it’s actually gone a lot farther than that.” With that remark, Janice Wegesin, President of JMW Consulting, in a recent ASPPA webcast on the Form 5500, cautioned attendees that the proposed Form 5500 SUP is on... READ MORE

The direct final rule that the Department of Labor (DOL) issued on March 19 containing fiduciary requirements for disclosure in participant-directed individual account plans went into effect June 17. But the DOL has built flexibility into the rule, and has built in two additional months in which to... READ MORE

For the first time in more than a decade, the IRS has published an update for its Audit Technique Guide for Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Plans.An analysis by Winston & Strawn LLP notes that the IRS ATG highlighted several key areas where the IRS continues to see problems — and which it... READ MORE

The Department of Labor intends to finalize its re-proposed rule defining a fiduciary in May of next year, Groom Law Group Chairman Steve Saxon said on June 8. Saxon made his remarks at the SPARK Institute’s annual conference in Washington, D.C.That timing is fueled by political considerations.... READ MORE

Bipartisan legislation introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives June 4 would allow pension plan participants to be automatically opted in to electronic delivery of documents. And a recent study suggests that the sponsors of the bill have good timing.  Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) introduced... READ MORE

ASPPA Executive Director and CEO Brian Graff opened ASPPA’s first-ever virtual conference May 14 with a discussion of “the elephant in the room” — the Department of Labor’s (DOL) reproposal concerning the definition of who is a fiduciary.Graff noted that the proposed regulation is “mammoth,” but... READ MORE