In August 2017, a Ninth Circuit district court held a plan fiduciary violated its continuing duty to monitor plan investments under ERISA when it did not replace retail-class mutual funds with lower cost institutional-class funds. (This is [...]
In 2015, the IRS announced a dramatic curtailment of its determination letter program for individually designed plans. Previously, plan sponsors were permitted to submit their plans for review by the IRS every five years in order to [...]
Earlier this year, the IRS issued new guidance on the substantiation of hardship distributions. As background, 401(k) plans may allow employees to receive a distribution that is necessary to satisfy an immediate and heavy financial need. The [...]
1. In July 2016, the IRS issued guidance formalizing major changes to its determinationletter program. Notably, the guidance confirmed the IRS will stop issuing most types of determination letters, advised that expiration dates in prior determination [...]
1. At the request of President Obama, the DOL issued proposed regulations on the definition of an ERISA fiduciary and corresponding changes to the DOL's prohibited transaction exemptions. The proposals, if adopted, would make it more likely that [...]
1. In June 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court in Fifth Third Bancorp v. Dudenhoeffer eliminated the "Moench" presumption that employer stock is a prudent investment under ERISA.Fifth Third Bancorp v. Dudenhoeffer, 134 S. Ct. 2459 (2014). And so ESOP [...]
Background Congress created a statutory framework that encourages employee ownership of company stock through retirement plans-- including tax incentives, special dividend and loan provisions, and an exemption from ERISA’s duty to diversify plan assets. Beginning in [...]
Background It is not uncommon for retirement plans holding employer stock to incorporate in summary plan descriptions, by reference, stock filings made under securities law. This practice satisfies certain securities law disclosure requirements. Recent case law [...]
In April 2014, the IRS issued new guidance (Notice 2014-19 and website FAQs) on applicability of the Windsor decision to retirement plans.Notice 2014-19 is available at http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-14-19.pdf and the FAQs are available at http://www.irs.gov/Retirement-Plans/Answers-to-Frequently-Asked-Questions-Regarding-the-Application-of-the-Windsor-Decision-and-Post-Windsor-Published-Guidance-to-Qualified-Retirement-Plans. In short, the guidance provides that [...]
The DOL's two significant retirement plan fee and investment disclosure regulations issued in 2010 became applicable in 2012. First, most retirement plans should have received fee disclosures from covered service providers before July 1, 2012. 29 CFR [...]