Advertisement
Regulatory Compliance
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
Sharp increases in the penalties for making mistakes in information reporting will kick in for returns and statements that are required to be filed after Dec. 31, 2015. The hikes are tucked in to the Trade Preferences Extension Act of 2015, enacted June 29.Section 806 of the act, part of the...
READ MORE
The IRS on July 21 outlined changes to the employee plans determination letter program for qualified retirement plans.According to Announcement 2015-19, effective Jan. 1, 2017, the IRS will eliminate the staggered 5-year determination letter remedial amendment cycles for individually designed...
READ MORE
The Pushmi-Pullyu, a two-headed animal character from author Hugh Lofting’s Doctor Dolittle series of children’s books, does not actually exist. But the back-and-forth over the Department of Labor’s proposed fiduciary rule is enough to make one wonder if maybe they really do after all.July 21...
READ MORE
The American Retirement Association (ARA) has submitted its comment letter to the Department of Labor (DOL) on the fiduciary rule re-proposal. ARA has long supported aligning the interests of retirement plan advisers to individual retirement investors through a best interest standard. The comment...
READ MORE
The Department of Labor (DOL) will be changing its proposed fiduciary rule regarding brokers, DOL Deputy Assistant Secretary Timothy D. Hauser said on July 16. Hauser made his remarks at a Washington, D.C. meeting of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Investor Advisory Committee.Hauser told...
READ MORE
The IRS should better inform individuals about Internal Revenue Code provisions saying they must take required minimum distributions from their IRAs when they reach a certain age, says a Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration report.Treasury issued the report July 15. TIGTA sought to...
READ MORE
Plan sponsors who want to “de-risk” their pension plans will no longer be able to give participants who are currently receiving monthly annuity benefits the option to convert that benefit to a lump sum, according to new rules from the IRS.Notice 2015-49, issued July 9, provides that qualified DB...
READ MORE
Plan sponsors who want to “de-risk” their pension plans will no longer be able to give participants who are currently receiving monthly annuity benefits the option to convert that benefit to a lump sum, according to new rules from the IRS. IRS Notice 2015-49, issued June 9, provides that qualified...
READ MORE
“You may be aware that the IRS has proposed this. What you may not be aware of is that it’s actually gone a lot farther than that.” With that remark, Janice Wegesin, President of JMW Consulting, in a recent ASPPA webcast on the Form 5500, cautioned attendees that the proposed Form 5500 SUP is on...
READ MORE
Defined benefit plans, defined contribution plans and 403(b) annuity arrangements with calendar year plans, take note: July 31 is right around the corner. That’s the day by which most plans must file the dreaded and onerous Form 5500. The clock is ticking on filing the form that reports on 2014.The...
READ MORE
Efforts to stop or roll back the Department of Labor’s proposed fiduciary rule will continue, according to Steve Saxon of Groom Law Group. Saxon made his remarks at the Insured Retirement Institute’s recent Government Legal Regulatory Conference in Washington, D.C.According to zinsurance, Saxon...
READ MORE
The direct final rule that the Department of Labor (DOL) issued on March 19 containing fiduciary requirements for disclosure in participant-directed individual account plans went into effect June 17. But the DOL has built flexibility into the rule, and has built in two additional months in which to...
READ MORE
The Senate Appropriations Committee on June 25 in a 16-14 vote approved the fiscal year 2016 Labor, Health and Human Services (LHHS) funding bill, which denies funding that would enable the Department of Labor (DOL) to implement the fiduciary rule.Committee Chairman Thad Chochran (R-Miss.) hailed...
READ MORE
For the first time in more than a decade, the IRS has published an update for its Audit Technique Guide for Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Plans.An analysis by Winston & Strawn LLP notes that the IRS ATG highlighted several key areas where the IRS continues to see problems — and which it...
READ MORE
Appropriations subcommittees on Capitol Hill — in the House and now in the Senate — have taken a shot at blocking the Labor Department’s fiduciary proposal by denying funding for the measure.House BillOn June 24, the House of Representatives’ Appropriations Committee approved a fiscal year 2016...
READ MORE
The public comments the Department of Labor is receiving on its proposed fiduciary rule already are having an effect, Labor Secretary Thomas Perez said at June 23 Brookings Institution forum in Washington, D.C.Perez said that among the comments they have received are expressions of concern...
READ MORE
The IRS in Revenue Procedure 2015-34 has provided procedures by which multiemployer defined benefit plans that are in critical and declining status may apply for approval to suspend benefits. The IRS issued the revenue procedure on June 19, which is also the date on which the IRS began accepted the...
READ MORE