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Regulatory Compliance
The IRS issued procedures Sept. 14 for a waiver from the requirement that Forms 8955 and 5500-EZ be filed electronically. In IRS Revenue Procedure 2015-47, effective on Sept. 28, 2015, the IRS set forth how plans and plan administrators — and in some cases, employers — are to proceed if they are if...
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The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has issued a final rule that amends its regulation on reportable events and other notification requirements. The amended rule appeared in the Federal Register of Sept. 11 and will apply to events that occur after Jan. 1, 2016.The amended rule focuses...
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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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If your plan sponsor clients haven’t filed Form 5500 as required, they could soon be hearing from the IRS.Recently the Internal Revenue Service’s Employee Plans Compliance unit (EPCU) announced plans to collaborate with the Department of Labor’s Office of the Chief Accountant (OCA) to contact Form...
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If you have comments on the Department of Labor’s (DOL) fiduciary reproposal, you only have a couple of weeks to share them.The DOL announced Sept. 8 that the public comment period will close on Thursday, Sept. 24, 2015, and that no hand-delivered comments will be accepted after 6:00 p.m. ET on...
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The IRS on Sept. 8 issued final regulations on the determination of minimum required pension contributions. The rules will be effective with their publication in the Federal Register, which will take place on Sept. 9; they will apply to plan years beginning on or after Jan. 1, 2016.These...
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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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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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The Department of Labor (DOL) has tentatively rejected requests by three global banks to continue managing U.S. pension funds. Bloomberg reports that in July it reviewed letters from the DOL to Deutsch Bank AG, Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLc and UBS Group AG informing the banks of its stance.The...
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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...
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The leadership of ACOPA met with representatives from the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) in May of this year. Discussion included the changes to the PBGC termination forms and instructions for post-distribution certifications filed on or after March 1, 2015, and the ability to do...
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The IRS in Notice 2015-58, which it issued on Aug. 28, has provided guidance on the minimum funding requirements for defined benefit plans maintained by groups of cooperatives and related entities, and by groups of charities. The notice clarifies the application of the Cooperative and Small...
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The IRS on Aug. 25 released a draft version of the Form 5500-EZ to be used in benefit plan reporting concerning 2015. The draft is for informational purposes only, however; it is not to be used for reporting.The IRS revised it to require reporting the number of active participants at the beginning...
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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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