The payment of benefits to missing participants and beneficiaries has been an area of increased DOL attention in recent years. In 2019, the Employee Benefits Security Administration (a DOL agency) recovered over $2 billion in payments [...]
In December 2019, Congress passed the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act (SECURE Act) as part of the Appropriations Act. See our article for additional information. Pursuant to an Executive Order, the IRS proposed updates [...]
On December 20, 2019, President Trump signed into law the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020.Pub. L. No. 116-94, 133 Stat. 2,534 (2019). In citations, Division O of this law is hereinafter cited as the “SECURE Act.” [...]
Updated: December 2019 A recent Ninth Circuit decision has given plan sponsors a powerful new tool to limit plan-wide relief for fiduciary breach claims. Typically, plan participants can bring a claim in court for breach of [...]
In October 2018, the DOL issued proposed regulations that would permit the establishment of association retirement plans. The proposed regulations are similar to the DOL’s regulations permitting the establishment of association health plans that were finalized in [...]
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 [...]