Compliance

The plan’s sole fiduciary and trustee has agreed to restore pension assets that, according to an EBSA investigation, were improperly directed to operating expenses and illegal personal loans.

Looking at the definition of ‘retirement funds,’ an appellate court found an ex-husband’s argument that 401(k) and IRA assets still in the ex-wife’s name represent marital property that his ex-wife saved for their joint retirement and that he intends to use the assets for his retirement are subjective and not required to be considered.

Some disclosure requirements are removed from Subtopic 715-20, Compensation—Retirement Benefits—Defined Benefit Plans—General, and some requirements are added.

These plans, also known as open multiple employer plans, allow small businesses to join together to offer defined contribution retirement savings benefits.

The case already made it once to the Supreme Court which helped to clarify what it means to be a “church plan” run by a principal-purpose organization under ERISA—but the underlying facts of the lawsuit are still being fought over in district court.

Both the DOL and SEC have a September 2019 date for a final action on corresponding fiduciary and best interest rules—could they be collaborating?

Commissioner Stein also encouraged the SEC to implement “mandatory periodic disclosures about the value of investors’ 401(k) accounts to show how much income will likely be generated in retirement.”

If the DOL’s proposal closely follows President Trump’s executive orders, it is likely to revise the “common nexus” and “one bad apple” rules that have held back open multiple employer plans.

The PBGC is proposing in a renewal request that all reportable events filings include controlled group information, company financial statements, and the plan’s actuarial valuation report.

The agency will give greater scrutiny to retirement plan distributions and 403(b) universal availability rules, among other things.

The 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found “several errors of law in the district court’s rulings.”

Due to changes in the wider benefits and compensation landscape, experts agreed, now is a fine time for nonprofit employers to reconsider their offerings and whether they can do more to attract and retain top executive talent. 

A table on the PBGC’s website shows that the flat-rate premium for single-employer plans has grown from $31 in 2007 to $80 in 2019, and the variable-rate premium has grown from $9 to $43.

A lawsuit alleges that the defendants failed to take advantage of the plans' bargaining power by only offering actively managed retail mutual funds as investment options.

The lawsuit not only calls out Fidelity’s use of all proprietary funds in its 401(k) investment lineup, but also accuses it of not negotiating for revenue sharing rebates, not using the lowest-cost share classes, not investigating alternative investment vehicles and not evaluating stable value fund options when its money market funds poorly performed.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services is alleged to have violated federal law by denying hire to an older applicant and pushing an older employee to retire because of their ages.

According to the lead plaintiff, the DC plan in question offers only investment options that generate fees for SEI and its affiliates and treat the plan as a captive customer.

In a letter, members of Congress accuse the DOL of “regulation through litigation” and ask that clear guidance regarding valuation and other important issues be developed.

This year, Congress is actively taking up legislation that would expand the use and benefits of health savings accounts (HSAs).

The lawsuit alleged that employee stock ownership plan participants overpaid for company stock.