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Regulatory Compliance
A majority of pension plan sponsors in a recent study are seeking to reduce their roles and responsibilities with their plans.
Almost two-thirds plan to outsource some or all of their plan-related investment responsibilities and more than 60% plan to terminate their plans in the next five years,...
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The Treasury and IRS have proposed regulations designed to encourage adoption of multiple employer plans (MEPs) – though they’re not final yet.
Specifically, the proposed regulations would provide an exception to the “one bad apple” rule for certain MEPs. A MEP is a plan adopted by two or more...
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More than 20 years after the last such overhaul, on July 1 President Trump signed into law bipartisan legislation to revamp the Internal Revenue Service. The newly enacted Taxpayer First Act of 2019 (H.R. 3151) overhauls the IRS’ operations and tax administration systems and implements new taxpayer...
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The Oregon Retirement Savings Board (ORSB) now may partner with other states in providing services similar to those offered by OregonSaves, the Beaver State’s the state-run auto-IRA program for private-sector employees whose employers do not offer a retirement plan. On June 27, Gov. Kate Brown (D)...
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The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to take on yet another ERISA case this term.
This case – Thole v. U.S. Bank, N.A., U.S., No. 17-1712, certiorari granted 6/28/19 – involves a suit by participants in U.S. Bank’s pension plan who, after the plan fiduciaries alleged mismanagement resulted in $750...
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The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) on June 26 proposed a rule that would make a variety of clarifications, corrections and improvements to four of its regulations.
The proposed rule is based on the PBGC’s ongoing efforts to review the effectiveness and clarity of its rules and input...
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Making it possible for participants to take a loan from their retirement accounts is a common plan feature. But it also is not unusual for mistakes to be made concerning those loans. A recent article, as well as the IRS, offer some suggestions regarding how to identify and fix them, as well as...
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President Trump on June 21 named seven new members to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation’s (PBGC) Advisory Committee.
The PBGC Advisory Committee is a body appointed by the president that represents the interests of labor, employers and the public. Its duties under ERISA include providing...
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The July 31, 2019 deadline for most employee benefits plans that must file the Form 5500 for reporting about 2018 is fast approaching. So the June 20 ASPPA Webcast, “Form 5500 Update,” was a well-timed reminder regarding changes that affect the form and its use and filing.
Presenter Stephen Forbes...
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July 1 is the registration deadline for the next wave of employers for the Illinois Secure Choice Savings Program, a retirement savings vehicle for private sector employees in Illinois who do not have access to an employer-sponsored plan. Employers with 100-499 employees must register with the...
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The House Ways & Means Committee has voted to extend a vast array of individual and corporate tax provisions, including special disaster-related rules for use of retirement funds.
Disaster Relief Assistance
The Committee late June 20 approved the Taxpayer Certainty and Disaster Tax Relief Act...
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The IRS on June 17 issued a third quarter update of its 2018-2019 Priority Guidance Plan. As in such previous such plans, retirement benefits are among the many areas in which the IRS plans to take action. In the update, the IRS also reports on progress in projects it has listed in the plan.
The ‘...
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A plan sponsor fiduciary won their case in court, refuting allegations that they should have removed a fund from the plan’s investment menu.
The plaintiff in this case was Marc J. Muri, an employee of National Indemnity, an insurance provider located in Omaha, Nebraska, and a participant in...
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Compliance is serious business and audits of an employee benefit program are no joke. But the mere fact that one is scheduled need not spell imminent doom. As a recent blog entry points out, there are steps one can take to be ready — and, in the process, better ensure that the plan is in compliance...
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Not wasting any time, the Garden State has announced that it will hold a July 17 hearing in connection with its proposed new fiduciary standards.
According to an announcement in the New Jersey Register, the Bureau of Securities also simultaneously announced that it is extending the comment period...
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Consistent with prior input from the American Retirement Association, New Jersey correctly excluded ERISA plan fiduciaries from the application of its proposed new fiduciary standards.
In a June 14 comment letter, the ARA – parent organization of the ASPPA/NTSA – expressed support for the proposed...
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An excessive fee suit has been granted class action status in federal court.
This time it’s a group of former participants in the JPMorgan Chase 401(k) Savings Plan, a plan that has approximately 266,000 to 300,000 participants and more than $14 billion in assets.
Suit ‘Case’
In considering the...
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The official hurricane season has just begun (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says it starts June 1). But we’ve already had a tropical system in the Atlantic (Andrea) — and that serves as a reminder that it can be helpful to a service provider and plan administrator to prepare…...
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The Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) is responsible for overseeing millions of employee benefit plans, including investigating retirement plans when necessary. A recent blog entry examines what an employer should know about that.
In Thompson Coburn LLP’s blog...
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Words matter. Don’t think so? The publisher of a King James Bible in the 17th century who left out the word “not” in the commandment “thou shalt not commit adultery” and who suffered the consequences would beg to differ. And words matter in retirement plan communications as well, as recent analyses...
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