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Fiduciary Governance
The Department of Labor (DOL) has launched a new initiative in the communication “war” about its conflict of interest proposal.The DOL recently published a “Q&A on Small Savers” which leads off by stating, “Small IRA savers may not be who you think they are,” and goes on to point out that more...
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Editor’s Note: This is the first of a three-part series by Peter Preovolos on being a 3(16) plan administrator.There’s a lot of talk in the retirement industry these days about becoming a 3(16) plan administrator to plan sponsor clients. But what exactly does that entail, and how would it benefit...
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We’re months away from December, but it felt like a fiduciary rule Festivus on Capitol Hill Sept. 10 as members of Congress aired their grievances about the Department of Labor’s (DOL) proposed extension authority to regulate assets contained in retirement accounts.Two subcommittees of the House...
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The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) and Sears Holding Corp. have entered into an agreement that protects the latter’s pension plan. The agreement protects them as well as the plan’s pension insurance; it also allows Sears Holding Corp. to continue to protect certain special-purpose...
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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-...
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Congress returns from its summer break next week, and House Republicans are wasting no time reengaging in oversight of the Department of Labor’s (DOL) fiduciary rule re-proposal.On Sept. 10, two subcommittees of the House Financial Services Committee are planning to hold a joint hearing on the...
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Fewer multiemployer pension plans are in bad shape, according to figures just released by the IRS Employee Plans Compliance Unit (EPCU). The EPCU updated the data concerning its Multiemployer Actuarial Certification Project, which shows a slow but steady improvement in the status of multiemployer...
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Can plan fiduciaries sue to recover overpayments made many years ago?Case law has recognized the right of a fiduciary to recover overpayments, but a recent case involving a pension plan’s attempted recovery highlights some of the potential hurdles.The case in question involved the Pharmacia...
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A court challenge to a corporate pension de-risking move has been rejected by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.The lawsuit was filed by a number of Verizon retirees who took issue with a 2012 move by their former employer to annuitize the benefits of current retirees by purchasing annuities...
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The IRS has issued temporary regulations providing guidance on administering a vote by multiemployer plan participants regarding suspension of benefits when such a plan is determined to be in critical and declining status.The temporary regulations (designated TD 9735) apply as of June 17, 2015, and...
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There were four days of hearings on the Department of Labor’s proposed fiduciary rule and I kept waiting… and watching… and waiting. But it never came up. And that surprised me.You see, I was fully expecting someone to ask these two questions: “What about individuals who actually want to be...
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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...
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Renowned French author André Gide once famously remarked, “Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But since no one was listening, everything must be said again.” So it felt at times during Day Four of the Department of Labor’s (DOL) public hearing on its fiduciary rule.To be fair,...
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Fixed-income allocations by corporate pension plans are growing, a shift that is coming at the expense of equity allocations. The allocations are now close to parity, say recent reports.According to Pensions & Investments online, Standard & Poor’s says that private-sector pension plans’...
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Responding to a bipartisan (though primarily Republican) letter from more than a dozen members of the U.S. House of Representatives, Labor Secretary Thomas Perez says his agency will “move forward towards issuing a Final Rule” on the agency’s “conflict of interest” proposal.In a letter addressed to...
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Marcy Supovitz, President-Elect of the American Retirement Association, testified at the public hearing on the Department of Labor’s reproposed fiduciary rule Aug. 12.Supovitz' testimony concentrated on the American Retirement Association’s innovative proposal to create a separate, streamlined...
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The second day of public hearings on the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule reproposal was highlighted by a debate over the economic impact that the rule will have on the financial services industry.When a rule of this significance is issued, it must be accompanied by an analysis from the...
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The first day of the Department of Labor’s (DOL) public hearing on its re-proposed fiduciary rule Aug. 10 veered from the informative to the absurd as the department’s rule makers heard from a broad array of stakeholders on the complex subject.Labor Secretary Thomas Perez has repeatedly promised to...
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The public comment period may have closed, but a group of U.S. Senators has weighed in on the proposed fiduciary regs — and lent their support to a recommendation of the American Retirement Association.The letter, signed by Senate Finance Committee ranking member Ron Wyden (Ore.), as well as fellow...
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The public comment period may have closed, but a group of U.S. Senators has weighed in on the proposed fiduciary regs — and lent their support to a recommendation of the American Retirement Association.The letter, signed by Senate Finance Committee ranking member Ron Wyden (Ore.), as well as fellow...
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