Advertisement
Regulatory Compliance
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...
READ MORE
Are any pension plans you serve frozen, in part or in full? That may mean that in general there isn’t much going on, but the ice sheet doesn’t cover the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) reportable plan rules. Vivian S. McCardell, of counsel at Morgan Lewis Bockius, LLP’s Philadelphia...
READ MORE
Require general partners to do a better job of disclosing private equity fees. That’s the message that treasurers from states in every region of the United States, as well as two of its largest cities, sent to Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mary Jo White in a recent letter.The treasurers...
READ MORE
The IRS is seeking applicants to serve on the advisory committee that provides advice and public input on the IRS Tax Exempt and Government Entities (TE/GE) Division’s tax administration activities. It made the announcement in News Release 2015-100.The IRS seeks to fill vacancies for the positions...
READ MORE
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,...
READ MORE
The IRS has issued IRA required minimum distribution (RMD) worksheets for figuring this year’s required withdrawals from traditional IRAs. One of the worksheets concerns RMDs from traditional IRAs, and the other concerns RMDs if a spouse who is more than 10 years younger than the IRA holder is the...
READ MORE
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...
READ MORE
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...
READ MORE
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...
READ MORE
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...
READ MORE
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...
READ MORE
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...
READ MORE
Beginning Oct. 1, it’s back to the 20th century for anyone who used to ask a question of the IRS Employee Plans Office. The IRS announced on July 31 that as of that date, that office will no longer answer technical questions by email, nor will it accept forwarded messages from IRS Customer Account...
READ MORE
The IRS in Notice 2015-53 has announced the mortality tables for minimum funding and present value requirements for use in 2016. The IRS issued the notice July 31.The notice provides updated static mortality tables to be used for defined benefit n plans under Internal Revenue Code Section 430(h)(3...
READ MORE
An IRA owner must calculate the required minimum distribution (RMD) separately for each IRA that he or she owns, but can withdraw the total amount from one or more of the IRAs. This is among the reminders the IRS provides regarding the rules governing RMDs.If an account owner fails to withdraw an...
READ MORE
The Department of Labor provides a wealth of information for employers, plan administrators and plan sponsors, including tips for selecting an auditor. It can be helpful to know what the DOL is telling prospects and clients about the audit process — and how to select an auditor.The following...
READ MORE
Among the more than 800 comment letters filed on the Labor Department’s fiduciary proposal is one from a fellow federal agency that claims the proposal fails to adequately estimate its cost or the number of firms affected by it.The filing by the Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy...
READ MORE
Expressing concerns that the Labor Department’s fiduciary proposal is “…motivated by an insatiable desire to reengineer the retirement services industry and control the mode and manner that Americans save for retirement,” a group of Republican congressmen is calling on the DOL to withdraw the rule....
READ MORE
Taking a cue from the boss, Labor Secretary Thomas Perez has said that the DOL will issue guidance to help facilitate state-based retirement plans. Perez made his remarks on the DOL blog.As President Obama did on July 13, Perez hailed state-based plans as a tool to strengthen retirement and noted...
READ MORE
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) says that the Labor Department’s fiduciary proposal represents a “fractured approach” that will sow confusion for many in the retirement industry.In a comment letter regarding the Labor Department proposal, FINRA says that a best interest standard...
READ MORE