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Fiduciary Governance
The Department of Labor (DOL) has filed a lawsuit alleging that a profit-sharing plan lost more than $4 million when fiduciaries engaged in self-dealing and conflicted transactions involving plan assets when they caused the plan to pay excessive fees.Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central...
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The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has updated its treatment of the measurement date of an employer’s defined benefit obligation and plan assets. The FASB issued the update in Accounting Standards Update 2015-04, “Compensation — Retirement Benefits” (Topic 715). The proposals apply to...
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The headlines are all about the impact of the Department of Labor’s new fiduciary proposal on financial advisors — but the effects could be widespread, extending to third-party administrators (TPAs) and recordkeepers as well.On May 5, an ASPPA webcast will bring you up to speed on the historical...
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The Department of Labor will not extend the 75-day comment period for its conflict-of-interest rule, Labor Secretary Thomas Perez said April 23.Asked about his response to requests by industry groups to extend the comment period, ThinkAdvisor reports that Perez said: “The comment period is 75 days...
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The Department of Labor’s long-awaited fiduciary reproposal claims to protect consumers from “conflicts of interest” in retirement advice — but at what cost?While initial concerns about preserving the ability for 401(k) participants to work with the advisor of their choice on rollovers appear to be...
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Industry insider and fiduciary geek Pete Swisher has penned a timely and insightful piece on the history and potential future impact of the Department of Labor’s (DOL) new “conflict of interest” proposal.Swisher, who has spent years studying and preparing for the issues surrounding the “definition...
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The Investment Company Institute says the Obama administration relied on "fatally flawed" research in supporting its push for an expansion of the “conflicted advice” rule released April 14, and that the claim that retirement savers pay “billions of dollars a year” in excess costs “does not stand up...
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Small defined benefit plans that have received audit waivers need more frequent review, says the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Inspector General. The DOL’s IG sent Report 05-15-002-12-121, which concerns EBSA’s oversight of small plans claiming the audit waiver, to DOL Assistant Secretary for...
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The Internal Revenue Service is moving to make it easier — and in some cases cheaper — to remedy plan problems with participant loans. In Revenue Procedure 2015-27, the IRS said it is reducing voluntary correction program (VCP) compliance fees relating to failures to meet requirements with respect...
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A strengthening economy does not appear to have translated into fewer loans from solo 401(k)s.IRA Financial Group partner Adam Berger recently told BenefitsPro that his firm has found that the rate of participant loans in their plans has not dropped despite the improving economy. He said that 20-25...
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The Securities and Exchange Commission and Department of Labor are both working on fiduciary issues — but their different approaches appear to be on different schedules. On March 24, it was SEC Chair Mary Jo White’s turn to take questions from Congress regarding the commission’s plan to impose a...
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http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-15-28.pdfSponsors of certain closed defined benefit plans got some good news from the IRS on March 19 — it has extended temporary relief from nondiscrimination rules under Internal Revenue Code Section 401(a)(4) for another year. The extension applies to DB plans...
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Time draws short for required minimum distributions (RMDs) from traditional IRAs and employer-provided retirement plans to taxpayers who reached age 70½ in 2014. The IRS on March 19 in IR-2015-55 issued a reminder that the deadline is April 1.The April 1 deadline applies to owners of traditional...
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Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez used his first appearances before the 114th Congress to deliver a full-throated defense of the DOL’s controversial effort to expand the fiduciary standard of care to financial service providers under the jurisdiction of the department.Perez appeared at two...
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Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez used his first appearances before the 114th Congress to deliver a full-throated defense of the DOL’s controversial effort to expand the fiduciary standard of care to financial service providers under the jurisdiction of the department.Perez appeared at two...
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On March 19, 2015, the Government Affairs Committee (GAC) of the American Society of Pension Professionals & Actuaries (ASPPA) filed a comment letter with the IRS regarding suggested changes to the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS). The letter provided specific recommendations...
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Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Mary Jo White confirmed March 17 that the Commission will “implement a uniform fiduciary duty for broker-dealers and investment advisors where the standard is to act in the best interest of the investor.”The statement, reported by Investment News,...
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The Securities and Exchange Commission should pursue an effort to set new rules for broker-dealers and investment advisors in their work to burnish clients’ pots of gold, March 17 remarks by SEC Chairman Mary Jo White indicated. She made her comments at a meeting of the Securities industry and...
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As the White House promotes the Department of Labor’s (DOL) reproposal of the fiduciary rule, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) took the opportunity March 12 to criticize “brokers on Wall Street” and reinforce the administration’s messaging on the controversial proposed regulation.At a Senate Special...
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A group of eight Republican senators, including the Chairmen of the Senate Finance Committee and the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP), have expressed their concerns about the potential negative consequences for American workers if the Labor Department’s fiduciary...
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