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Regulatory Compliance
The newest digital edition of ASPPA’s members-only magazine has been posted online!
For the self-employed and small business owners with a Solo 401(k) plan, important rules need to be carefully considered in the coming years. In this issue’s cover story, an expert panel—Nevin Adams, Dick Billings...
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Participants in OregonSaves, the first state-run retirement plan for private-sector employees whose employers do not offer one, have now cumulatively saved more than $200 million through the program.
So reported the Oregon Retirement Savings Board and State Treasurer Tobias Read, who serves as...
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A participant in yet another mega 401(k) plan claims participants paid nearly twice what they might have for “fungible” recordkeeping services.
This time it’s participant-plaintiff Matthew A. Miller[1] positioned as a representative of a Class of Participants and Beneficiaries of the $22 billion...
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After a lot of comings and goings, filings and amended filings, an excessive fee suit brought against a $7.9 billion multiple employer plan has faded into the sunset…
The suit was filed in May 2020 in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey by McCaffree Financial Corp.,[1]...
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After months of speculation, the Department of Labor’s (DOL) newly released Spring 2023 regulatory agenda confirms that a fiduciary rule rewrite could be released later this summer; it also provides other key insight for the department’s regulatory plans for the coming months.
In fact, the fall...
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The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) on June 14 issued the interest assumptions under the asset allocation regulation for plans with valuation dates in the third quarter of 2023.
The assumptions are contained in a final rule that amends the PBGC’s regulation on Allocation of Assets in...
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The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation’s (PBGC) regulatory agenda now includes proposed rules to reflect updates to the dollar limit for mandatory distributions under SECURE 2.0.
The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has outlined the PBGC...
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A federal judge has approved the recommendation to certify a class in a proprietary fund suit—determining that even a “well-educated, well-informed, and careful investor”—might lack actual knowledge of fiduciary breaches.
The Suit
The participant-plaintiff in question here is one Brian Waldner,...
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A participant lawsuit claims that American Airlines has put retirement savings at risk by investing with managers and funds that “pursue leftist political agendas through environmental, social and governance (ESG) strategies, proxy voting, and shareholder activism.”
Participant-plaintiff (and...
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The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) sent a letter to the Department of Labor (DOL) on May 30 urging it to “effectively and expeditiously” implement SECURE 2.0. It also urged the DOL to prioritize six provisions related to the committee’s mission.
More specifically...
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The IRS has issued guidance on the expansion of the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS) under Section 305 of SECURE 2.0.
The guidance is contained in Notice 2023-43, which provides interim guidance in advance of an update to Revenue Procedure (Rev. Proc.) 2021-30.
The issues the...
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With inflation running at record levels last year, the IRS provided a sizeable boost to the inflation-adjusted health savings account (HSA) limits for 2024, as determined under Section 223 of the Internal Revenue Code.
The announcement came in Revenue Procedure 2023-23, released May 16.
HSA...
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Appearing at the Employee Benefit Research Institute’s 2023 Spring Policy Forum on May 11, Lisa Gomez, Assistant Secretary for the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), told attendees that the department is busy working on getting guidance out the door.
On the retirement side, Gomez...
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An excessive fee suit where plan fiduciaries had prevailed on most issues — has now settled the remaining claims.
The suit — filed in mid-2020 by seven former employees of Schneider Electric Holdings, Inc. — had targeted Schneider Electric, the two committees that oversee the $4.5 billion plan,...
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The IRS has issued an update to the 2022-2023 priority guidance plan.
The IRS had released the initial plan on Nov. 4, 2022, setting forth guidance priorities for the 12-month period from July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023 (the plan year). It released an update to the plan in February.
The To...
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Snap, Crackle — and now, Pop! Another multi-billion 401(k) plan has won its case against allegations of excessive fees.
The victor this time—winning dismissal of a proposed class action with prejudice[1] — was Kellogg’s, and the fiduciaries of its $1.9 billion 401(k) plan. The suit had been filed...
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The IRS has issued a clarification it proposes be added to the 2023 Form 5500 instructions.
Specifically, the clarification is proposed for Schedule SB, Line 26b - Schedule of Projection of Expected Benefit Payments.
What Line 26b does. Line 26b of Schedule SB requires plans covered by Title IV...
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While the retirement plan industry generally applauds the introduction and adoption of state-sponsored retirement plans, the possibility some could compete with and “crowd out” private plans due to how the legislation is structured is an ongoing concern.
However, in some states, the opposite is...
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The fiduciary standards in ERISA include an obligation to act prudently and solely for the exclusive purpose of providing benefits to participants and beneficiaries and for defraying reasonable expenses, and those standards apply to DB plans and DC plans. The Department of Labor (DOL) has not been...
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The fiduciaries of the 99 Cents Only Stores have come to terms in an excessive fee suit involving their 401(k) plan – and for considerably more than…99 cents.
That said, the relatively quick (the suit was filed only about a year ago on March 25, 2022) settlement was, by the standards of such...
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