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Regulatory Compliance
Oct. 15 has finally passed. A day even spookier than Halloween! Which explains all the treats in the kitchen area at work for those hard at work on their 5500s.
Let’s take a flashback to our May issue in which Tiffany Myers, Manager, Actuarial Services at the Cash Balance Center of Excellence,...
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An explanation and history of fiduciary liability insurance were among the topics addressed at the recent ERISA 403(b) Conference in Washington, D.C.
The panel discussion “Fiduciary Liability Insurance” featured Euclid Fiduciary’s Daniel Aronowitz, Sompo International’s Joe Kelly, and Marsh...
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For the second time in a month, a law firm has brought suit challenging the use of forfeitures in a 401(k) plan.
The lawyers are from Hayes Pawlenko LLP, a South Pasadena, CA-based duo (who met in law school, according to their website) positioning themselves as an employment litigation firm “...
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House Education and the Workforce Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx (R-NC) on Oct. 5 sent a letter to Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) Assistant Secretary Lisa Gomez that raises concerns about the Department of Labor’s (DOL) potential regulations that could affect retirement plans...
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Service providers take care of the nuts and bolts and fine details of running a retirement plan. So what are plan sponsors looking for in a third party administrator? A recent blog entry offers a look.
In “10 Things to Look for in Retirement Plan Administration,” Kushner & Company suggests...
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Editor’s Note: This is the first in a two-part series about service providers’ audits of clients and their plans.
That’s what a first financial audit can feel like, says an industry expert. But it doesn’t have to.
“Death by a thousand cuts. That’s what initial 401(k) and 403(b) audit clients...
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Noting that "the settling parties agreed to the proposed settlement only after vigorous arm's-length negotiations between counsel experienced in ERISA class actions and under the auspices of … a third-party private mediator with extensive experience mediating ERISA actions”—the parties in yet...
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The IRS has updated the content it provides through an issue snapshot on the deductibility of employer contributions to a 401(k) plan made after the end of the tax year. The refresh accounts for application of the SECURE 2.0 Act.
The Issue Snapshot discusses the timing rules of the Internal...
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The IRS has updated the information it makes available concerning its voluntary compliance program (VCP). It issued the reminders in the Sept. 29 edition of Employee Plans News.
Check Status
The IRS reminds taxpayers that they can check the status of any submissions they have made under the VCP...
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October is cybersecurity month, “something that pairs nicely with Oktoberfest,” American Retirement Association CEO Brian Graff joked during a panel called “Fulfilling Cybersecurity Oversight Requirements” at the ERISA 403(b) Conference in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 2.
It was a moment of levity in...
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Another federal judge has weighed the assertions made in an excessive fee suit—and found them lacking both in terms of a “meaningful benchmark,” and specificity of the claims made.
The Suit
The plaintiffs here—Jennifer R. Lard, John G. Juergens, Gerald L. Robinson, Scott W. Anderson, Thomas A....
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The priority guidance plan that the Treasury and IRS have issued for 2023-24 includes plans for action that will affect retirement plans. They unveiled the plan on Sept. 29.
The 2023-2024 Priority Guidance Plan contains projects that will be the focus of guidance and regulatory efforts by the...
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Many (if not most) defined contribution plan documents provide that the plan administrator may use forfeitures to reduce contributions, pay plan expenses, or allocate to participants as additional benefits.
In fact, the Treasury and IRS recently suggested that plans be drafted this way to avoid...
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Plaintiffs have had their appeal of a district court’s dismissal of their excessive fee suit rejected by the appellate court.
Appellants Cole Matney and Paul Watts[1]—participants in the Barrick Gold 401(k) plan—filed suit against Barrick Gold of North America, Inc., Barrick Gold’s Board of...
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Natural disasters disrupt normal business activity. The IRS makes timely notice to taxpayers of areas eligible for relief after disasters such as Hurricane Idalia and other recent events (see sidebar). Herein, we trace some of the regulatory language and published guidance from the IRS on disasters...
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The IRS on Sept. 13 issued guidance on exceptions from the electronic filing requirements for certain filers of Forms 8955-SSA and 5500-EZ. The guidance comes in Revenue Procedure (Rev. Proc.) 2023-31.
Rev. Proc. 2023-31 supersedes Rev. Proc. 2015-47, 2015-39 IRB 419 regarding the following forms...
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The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has made some changes to the instructions for plans paying premiums for plan years beginning in 2023, including instructions for each data element that must be reported.
The filing requirements for 2023 are almost identical to those for 2022....
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The plaintiffs in one of the dozen or so cases involving the BlackRock Lifepath target-date funds (TDFs) have made it past the motion to dismiss stage.
In this case (Trauernicht et al. v. Genworth Financial Inc. et al., case number 3:22-cv-00532, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District...
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Noting that “prolonged investigations carried out by federal agencies, such as EBSA, create tremendous strain on retirement plan sponsors,” two key House Republicans are pushing back.
In a Sept. 19 letter to Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su, Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), chair of the Education...
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If you made an error with IRA contributions or discover one, there still is time to correct it. But not much time—the deadline for fixing those mistakes is Oct. 16, 2023.
Among the errors that could cause someone to seek to make an adjustment, observes Sarah Brenner, Director of Retirement...
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