The proposed amendments would affect the determination of a withdrawing employer's liability under a multiemployer plan and annual withdrawal liability payment amount when the plan has had benefit reductions, benefit suspensions, surcharges or contribution increases that must be disregarded.
An update from law firm Masuda, Funai, Eifert & Mitchell, Ltd. says that based on reviews of Form 5500s, the DOL’s Employee Benefit Security Administration (EBSA) is sending “no action” letters to plan sponsors.
Previously, the IRS said a plan can request a determination letter only if it has never received a letter before; the plan is terminating; or the IRS makes a special exception.
Many industry groups that submitted comments to the DOL argued that the plain language of Section 3(5) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) indicates non-related employers could participate in multiple employer plans (MEPs).
A new table will be used for determining expected retirement ages for participants in pension plans undergoing distress or involuntary termination with valuation dates falling in 2019.
Industry comment letters argued that many 403(b) plan sponsors were unaware of the rule that once a part-time employee is eligible to make elective deferrals, he cannot be excluded from the plan in subsequent years.
If the proposed rules are finalized, there would be no more suspension of deferrals after a hardship withdrawal or requirement to take a loan before one.
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?
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.
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.
The modifications take into consideration changes related to qualified plan loan offsets and other statutory changes.
The PBGC expanded the examples about how to determine premiums in a year when a plan is involved with a spinoff, merger or consolidation, and it expanded the section about short plan years to provide additional information for plans expecting to distribute assets during the 2018 plan year pursuant to a standard termination.
In addition to ordering a review of RMD rules and expansion of MEPs, President Donald Trump asked both the Treasury and Labor Departments to review actions that could make retirement plan disclosures easier to understand for participants and less costly to employers.