Advertisement
Regulatory Compliance
Fewer multiemployer pension plans are in bad shape, according to figures just released by the IRS Employee Plans Compliance Unit (EPCU). The EPCU updated the data concerning its Multiemployer Actuarial Certification Project, which shows a slow but steady improvement in the status of multiemployer...
READ MORE
A court challenge to a corporate pension de-risking move has been rejected by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.The lawsuit was filed by a number of Verizon retirees who took issue with a 2012 move by their former employer to annuitize the benefits of current retirees by purchasing annuities...
READ MORE
The IRS has issued temporary regulations providing guidance on administering a vote by multiemployer plan participants regarding suspension of benefits when such a plan is determined to be in critical and declining status.The temporary regulations (designated TD 9735) apply as of June 17, 2015, and...
READ MORE
The Department of Labor (DOL) has tentatively rejected requests by three global banks to continue managing U.S. pension funds. Bloomberg reports that in July it reviewed letters from the DOL to Deutsch Bank AG, Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLc and UBS Group AG informing the banks of its stance.The...
READ MORE
The IRS Employee Plans Compliance Unit (EPCU) is intended to establish a larger IRS presence in the pension plan community. And — no surprise — increase plans’ compliance, according to EPCU Managers Chomyok and Carla Smith. In an Aug. 27 webinar they offered an overview of what EPCU does.EPCU...
READ MORE
The leadership of ACOPA met with representatives from the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) in May of this year. Discussion included the changes to the PBGC termination forms and instructions for post-distribution certifications filed on or after March 1, 2015, and the ability to do...
READ MORE
The IRS in Notice 2015-58, which it issued on Aug. 28, has provided guidance on the minimum funding requirements for defined benefit plans maintained by groups of cooperatives and related entities, and by groups of charities. The notice clarifies the application of the Cooperative and Small...
READ MORE
The IRS on Aug. 25 released a draft version of the Form 5500-EZ to be used in benefit plan reporting concerning 2015. The draft is for informational purposes only, however; it is not to be used for reporting.The IRS revised it to require reporting the number of active participants at the beginning...
READ MORE
There were four days of hearings on the Department of Labor’s proposed fiduciary rule and I kept waiting… and watching… and waiting. But it never came up. And that surprised me.You see, I was fully expecting someone to ask these two questions: “What about individuals who actually want to be...
READ MORE
The Department of Labor (DOL) stands ready to assist state governments when they work to establish public retirement plans for private-sector workers, regardless of whether those plans are covered by ERISA, according to EBSA chief Phyllis Borzi.The White House set the tone with President Obama’s...
READ MORE
Are any pension plans you serve frozen, in part or in full? That may mean that in general there isn’t much going on, but the ice sheet doesn’t cover the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) reportable plan rules. Vivian S. McCardell, of counsel at Morgan Lewis Bockius, LLP’s Philadelphia...
READ MORE
Require general partners to do a better job of disclosing private equity fees. That’s the message that treasurers from states in every region of the United States, as well as two of its largest cities, sent to Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Mary Jo White in a recent letter.The treasurers...
READ MORE
The IRS is seeking applicants to serve on the advisory committee that provides advice and public input on the IRS Tax Exempt and Government Entities (TE/GE) Division’s tax administration activities. It made the announcement in News Release 2015-100.The IRS seeks to fill vacancies for the positions...
READ MORE
Renowned French author André Gide once famously remarked, “Everything that needs to be said has already been said. But since no one was listening, everything must be said again.” So it felt at times during Day Four of the Department of Labor’s (DOL) public hearing on its fiduciary rule.To be fair,...
READ MORE
The IRS has issued IRA required minimum distribution (RMD) worksheets for figuring this year’s required withdrawals from traditional IRAs. One of the worksheets concerns RMDs from traditional IRAs, and the other concerns RMDs if a spouse who is more than 10 years younger than the IRA holder is the...
READ MORE
Responding to a bipartisan (though primarily Republican) letter from more than a dozen members of the U.S. House of Representatives, Labor Secretary Thomas Perez says his agency will “move forward towards issuing a Final Rule” on the agency’s “conflict of interest” proposal.In a letter addressed to...
READ MORE
Marcy Supovitz, President-Elect of the American Retirement Association, testified at the public hearing on the Department of Labor’s reproposed fiduciary rule Aug. 12.Supovitz' testimony concentrated on the American Retirement Association’s innovative proposal to create a separate, streamlined...
READ MORE
The second day of public hearings on the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule reproposal was highlighted by a debate over the economic impact that the rule will have on the financial services industry.When a rule of this significance is issued, it must be accompanied by an analysis from the...
READ MORE
The first day of the Department of Labor’s (DOL) public hearing on its re-proposed fiduciary rule Aug. 10 veered from the informative to the absurd as the department’s rule makers heard from a broad array of stakeholders on the complex subject.Labor Secretary Thomas Perez has repeatedly promised to...
READ MORE
The public comment period may have closed, but a group of U.S. Senators has weighed in on the proposed fiduciary regs — and lent their support to a recommendation of the American Retirement Association.The letter, signed by Senate Finance Committee ranking member Ron Wyden (Ore.), as well as fellow...
READ MORE