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Regulatory Compliance
Many advisors — and advisory firms — have assumed that recommending a recordkeeper under the new fiduciary regulation wouldn’t constitute a fiduciary act. But that assumption may be wrong.The final fiduciary regulation, as did the 2015 proposal, places a great deal of emphasis on investment...
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Less than 24 hours after the filing of litigation challenging the Department of Labor’s (DOL) fiduciary regulation, a second lawsuit was filed June 2.This one, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by the National Association for Fixed Annuities, seeks to “challenge and...
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The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) on June 2 announced that it is proposing a rule that would facilitate mergers of multiemployer pension plans.The proposed rule, which will be published in the Federal Register on June 6, would implement changes under the Multiemployer Pension Reform...
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As anticipated, a number of retirement industry trade groups and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have taken their case against the Department of Labor’s (DOL) fiduciary regulation to the courts.Filed on June 1 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, the 74-page suit claims that...
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A number of industry trade groups have been contemplating litigation to stop the Department of Labor’s (DOL) fiduciary regulation even before there was a final regulation — that litigation could be filed as soon as today, according to reports.The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the U.S....
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The American Retirement Association on May 31 submitted a letter to the IRS on the proposed compliance questions for the Form 5500 series. The IRS had requested comments on the questions, which currently are under consideration for addition to the 2016 Forms 5500-EZ and 5500-SF, and to Form 5500...
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ASPPA is always providing information and insights that will be valuable to its members! Following is a summary of upcoming webcasts and events.Live WebcastsASPPA Webcast: Hey Did You Read This? No, I Didn't: Participant DisclosuresWednesday, June 8, 20162:00-3:40 p.m. ETSpeaker: JJ McKinney, CPC,...
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The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has released an annual update of its Data Book. The Data Book provides information pension plans and the PBGC have reported on single-employer and multiemployer plans and compares it to data from previous years. This update provides data from the...
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The IRS has updated the comprehensive page on its website that provides information about, and links to, information about retirement plan documents.The IRS organizes that information in subject matter categories. Each category includes: an explanation that provides guidance in the law and legal...
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Republicans in Congress continued their campaign to kill the Department of Labor’s (DOL) fiduciary rule — and managed to pull three Senate Democrats over to their side.The Senate voted 56-41 on May 24 to formally disapprove of the rule under the Congressional Review Act (CRA), with three Democrats...
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The American Retirement Association has submitted a letter to the IRS in response to the request in IRS Notice 2016-16 for comments on additional guidance needed for mid-year changes to safe harbor plans under Code Section 401(k)(12) and (13) and safe harbor 403(b) plans under Code Section 403(b)(...
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The impact of the Department of Labor’s May 18 rule revising the federal overtime rules may not be confined to HR and payroll — retirement plan administrators and service providers may be affected as well.The new overtime rules will increase the exempt salary threshold level to $913 per week or $47...
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The IRS has published final regulations regarding disbursements from a designated Roth account that is directly rolled over to an eligible retirement plan.Specifically, the IRS has removed the requirement that each disbursement from a designated Roth IRA that is directly rolled over to an eligible...
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Lions and tigers and bears, oh, my! Well, maybe floods, fires and earthquakes, oh, my. If a disaster occurs, its effect on a retirement plan’s compliance with tax law and regulations just might not be prominent on the minds of plan administrators, service providers, employers and participants. But...
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The tax incentives currently extended to workplace retirement plans are a potential casualty of a tax reform proposal that was the subject of a Senate Finance Committee hearing that included testimony from American Retirement Association Director of Retirement Policy Judy Miller.Under the unlikely...
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The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) on May 13 issued an interim rule amending its regulations to significantly raise the per-day penalties under ERISA for failing to give proper notice.The new maximum amounts are $2,063 per day for civil penalties imposed under ERISA Section 4071 (...
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In a much-anticipated ruling, the Treasury Department has rejected the Central States pension fund’s controversial petition seeking to cut participant and retiree benefits.The Central States application for consideration stated that, without a suspension in benefits, the plan was projected to...
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The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has updated My Plan Administration Account (My PAA), the web-based application that allows electronic submission of premium filings and payments.The PBGC has announced that now: filers may move plans in their account so that their more frequently...
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The U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employee Benefits Security Administration has reached a settlement agreement with an investment company over how it handled a short-term investment CIT.According to a DOL press release, Invesco Trust Company agreed to pay a total of $10.27 million to settle the...
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Every so often someone puts out a list of what are said to be the “best” 401(k) plans, based on varied benefits and plan design structure criteria. But for my money, here’s what the best plans do.Make it easy to start — right.No matter how well done the materials, the time allotted to education...
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