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Regulatory Compliance
The Department of Labor (DOL) on April 15 released a proposed information collection request (ICR) to help implement a forthcoming lost-and-found database to assist individuals with locating missing retirement accounts, but the operation appears to have hit a slight bump in the road.
Section 303...
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Collective investment trusts (CITs) are a greater focus of attention and activity in the wake of SECURE 2.0, as a recent Congressional Research Service (CRS) report highlights.
In “Pensions and Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs): Investment Issues,” the CRS provides an overview of pension...
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The White House's Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has completed its review of the Retirement Security Rule, and it is expected to be released by the Department of Labor (DOL) by the end of the month, according to reliable sources.
The OMB concluded its review and removed the rule from its...
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The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on April 8 that Central States is returning approximately $127 million in excess funds it received through the PBGC’s Special Financial Assistance (SFA) program.
The Central States pension plan, at the...
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“Democracy is messy, and it’s hard. It’s never easy.”
American Retirement Association CEO Brian Graff quoted Robert Kennedy to describe the current political environment and its potential effect on retirement plan savers and advisors.
Graff, who kicked off the opening keynote general session at...
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The digital edition of the Spring 2024 issue of Plan Consultant, ASPPA’s members-only magazine, has been posted online!
More than a quarter of the 90-odd SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 provisions are effective this year. Most are optional, but still…In this issue’s cover story, an expert panel—Shannon...
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The Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has released a final amendment to Prohibited Transaction Class Exemption 84-14—also known as the Qualified Professional Asset Manager (QPAM) Exemption.
The QPAM exemption permits various parties related to employee benefit...
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The American Retirement Association (ARA) and sustainable markets advocacy organization Ceres have filed an amicus brief in the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. It supports the U.S. Department of Labor’s (DOL) rule “that ensures retirement plan fiduciaries, including 401(k) sponsors, can consider...
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The American Retirement Association (ARA) submitted a comment letter to the Department of Labor (DOL) on March 31, 2024, related to the proposed regulation to implement a prohibited transaction exemption for certain auto-portability transactions.
More specifically, the DOL had requested comments...
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The Social Security Administration (SSA) on March 29 announced that it is slashing the default overpayment withholding rate for Social Security beneficiaries from 100% to 10% or $10, whichever is greater.
The change went into effect on March 25, 2024. But it applies to new overpayments, not those...
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The Treasury Department, the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) have announced that they are extending the period during which they will accept comments on the effectiveness of existing reporting and disclosure...
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Editor’s Note: This is Part II of a two-part series on a recent report by the Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans to Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su. Part I is here.
Recordkeeping has long been moving from paper-based to electronic. The Advisory Council on Employee...
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As the Department of Labor works in court to defend its rule allowing the use of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors by fiduciaries when selecting plan investments, legislation to restrict the use of ESG has been reintroduced in Congress, albeit with modifications.
Rep. Greg...
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Another suit filed against flexPATH by the law firm of Schlichter Bogard, LLP has been dismissed—with prejudice—though it seems to have turned more on good outcomes than prudent processes.
This suit (Mills v. Molina Healthcare, Inc., C.D. Cal., No. 2:22-cv-01813, complaint 3/18/22) was filed by...
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The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has updated a variety of interest rates used in determining the value of benefits, premiums, and penalties.
Variable Rate Premiums
The PBGC has adjusted the interest rates used in determining the value of vested benefits for purposes of variable...
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Editor’s Note: This is Part I of a two-part series on a recent report by the Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans to Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su.
Recordkeeping today is not your grandfather’s recordkeeping. Maybe not even your older sibling’s. So guidance and...
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March is coming in like a lion with a new “genre” of ERISA litigation.
While it’s early yet, two—and now three—recent suits—filed by different law firms in different federal district courts—might be the first of a new wave of litigation. All focus on decisions to mitigate corporate risk exposure...
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Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) Director Gordon Hartogensis defended PBGC actions and said that it is “providing crucial pension relief” in a March 20 appearance before the House Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions.
The subcommittee, part of the House Education and...
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The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) on March 12 issued the interest assumptions under the asset allocation regulation for plans with valuation dates in the second quarter of 2024.
The assumptions are contained in a final rule that amends the PBGC’s regulation on Allocation of Assets in...
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The IRS has confirmed that they expect to fix a system-wide glitch that has resulted in improperly withheld refunds of erroneous penalties related to Form 8955-SSA filings.
Kelsey Mayo, the American Retirement Association’s Director of Regulatory Policy, reports that some plan sponsors’ refunds...
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