On January 24, 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled in Hughes v. Northwestern University that establishing and offering a broad range of investment options for a participant-directed retirement plan does not ensure...more
1/26/2022
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
Duty of Prudence ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Hughes v. Northwestern University ,
Investment Management ,
Plan Participants ,
Retirement Plan ,
Tibble v Edison Int
Last week, the U.S. Department of Labor (the "DOL") on December 21, 2021 issued a supplement (the “2021 Supplement”) to a June 2020 Information Letter (the "2020 Information Letter") that had addressed the possible use of...more
12/28/2021
/ 401k ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Products ,
Information Letters ,
Investment ,
Investment Management ,
Private Equity ,
Retirement Plan
The U.S. Department of Labor (the “DOL”) on October 30, 2020 released a final regulation (the “Final Regulation”) relating to the consideration of non-pecuniary factors by fiduciaries of employee benefit plans (“Plans”) that...more
The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) on August 18, 2020, issued an interim final regulation (the “Regulation”) requiring the inclusion of lifetime income illustrations in the benefit statements provided to participants in...more
9/20/2020
/ 401k ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Comment Period ,
Defined Contribution Plans ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary ,
Interim Rule ,
Lifetime Income Disclosures ,
Limited Liability ,
Request For Information ,
Retirement Plan ,
SECURE Act
The Internal Revenue Service released Notice 2020-51 on June 23, 2020, which provides additional Coronavirus related guidance relating to the waiver of 2020 required minimum distributions (RMDs) under certain defined...more
7/11/2020
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Highly Compensated Employees ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
IRS ,
Popular ,
Required Minimum Distributions ,
Retirement Plan ,
Safe Harbors ,
SECURE Act
The U.S. Department of Labor (the "DOL") this week, on June 4, 2020, issued an Information Letter (the "Letter") regarding the use of private equity ("PE") investments in investment options offered under participant-directed...more
The Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) issued final regulations, effective September 23, 2019 (the “Final Regulations”), that modify the hardship distribution rules for plans established under Section 401(k) of the Internal...more
10/4/2019
/ 401k ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Bipartisan Budget Act ,
Final Rules ,
Hardship Distributions ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Pension Protection Act of 2006 ,
Retirement Plan ,
Retirement Plan Providers ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
In Dorman v. Charles Schwab Corp., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held on August 20, 2019 that claims under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) can generally be subject to mandatory...more
9/11/2019
/ 401k ,
American Express v Italian Colors Restaurant ,
Arbitration ,
Best Interest Contract Exemptions ,
Class Action ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Federal Arbitration Act ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Field Assistance Bulletins ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Putative Class Actions
The Department of Labor (DOL) has issued the final version of its “investment advice” regulation (Final Rule), which is widely expected to impact significantly the financial services industry, including registered investment...more
8/30/2016
/ 401k ,
Best Interest Contract Exemptions ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Distribution Rules ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Final Rules ,
Financial Adviser ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Mutual Funds ,
Registered Investment Companies (RICs)
For the past several years, the U.S. Department of Labor (the “DOL”) has been in the process of revising the “investment advice” regulations that govern “fiduciary” status under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of...more
Over the years, U.S. employers that sponsor “401(k)” and other retirement plans, and plan fiduciaries, have increasingly become the subject of significant and potentially expensive litigation under the Employee Retirement...more
Earlier this week, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously decided the case of Tibble v. Edison International. In Tibble, the Court held that the statute of limitations under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974...more
The U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari on October 2, 2014 in the case of Tibble v. Edison International, for the narrow purpose of reviewing the holding by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that the statute of limitations...more
A request for information ("RFI") by the U.S. Department of Labor ("DOL") was published on August 21, 2014 regarding the use of so-called "brokerage windows" under retirement plans, such as many Section 401(k) plans, that...more
Last week, in a complaint dated August 8, 2014, plaintiffs commenced a lawsuit in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas against Financial Engines, Inc. and Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. asserting a...more
The U.S. Department of Labor (the “DOL”) recently issued Advisory Opinion 2013-03A (the “Opinion”), which addresses implications under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) surrounding certain...more
Under the rules of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”), certain collective investment vehicles and other entities that, directly or indirectly, invest in “commodity interests” may be “commodity pools” whose...more