With 2023 drawing to a close, it is a good time for employers to consider any actions needed before year-end with respect to their benefit plans. We made a list, and we encourage plan sponsors to check it twice....more
The Department of Labor (DOL) recently advised that a program under which Citigroup Inc. (Citi) subsidizes investment management fees for its employee benefit plans’ diverse investment managers could be implemented without...more
The IRS has announced a two-year “administrative transition period” for plan sponsors to implement the SECURE 2.0 Act provision requiring higher-income employees to make retirement plan catch-up contributions as Roth...more
8/29/2023
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Comment Period ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Contributions ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
IRS ,
Relief Measures ,
Retirement Plan ,
Roth IRA ,
SECURE Act
On February 24, 2023, the IRS issued proposed regulations simplifying the use of forfeitures in qualified retirement plans, providing that forfeitures in defined contribution plans must be used by the end of the plan year...more
President Biden signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023, on December 29, 2022, which includes the package of retirement plan legislation known as “SECURE 2.0.” SECURE 2.0 contains numerous significant changes for...more
The IRS has extended the deadline for plan sponsors of qualified retirement plans and IRAs to make amendments under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) and the Taxpayer Certainty and...more
9/27/2022
/ 403(b) Plans ,
457(b) Plans ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
CARES Act ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
IRS ,
New Guidance ,
Plan Documents ,
Qualified Retirement Plans ,
Relief Measures ,
Required Minimum Distributions ,
Retirement Plan ,
SECURE Act ,
Time Extensions
Since 1996, the US Department of Labor granted more than 1,200 individual exemptions from the ERISA prohibited transaction rules.
One of the distinctive features of ERISA is its prohibition, in ERISA section 406 as a...more
1/5/2022
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403(b) Plans ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Exemptions ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Reinsurance ,
Related Parties
Just in time for the Olympics, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is attempting to take a medal in the category of “long-form voluntary compliance programs”. The IRS issued Revenue Procedure 2021-30 (Rev. Proc. 2021-30),...more
On December 21, 2020, Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the Act), which impacts employee benefits in a number of respects. The Act provides additional relief for retirement and other benefit plans,...more
COVID-19 has disrupted many aspects of work and play, leaving employees with canceled vacations and hesitance to schedule additional travel. As a result, employers are grappling with an unusual dilemma - managing ever-growing...more
On June 19, 2020, the Internal Revenue Service provided additional guidance for plan sponsors implementing the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) retirement plan relief. Notice 2020-50 expands the...more
On April 19, 2019, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released Revenue Procedure 2019-19, which updates its Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS). The new EPCRS significantly expands the use of retroactive plan...more
In Teufel v. Northern Trust Co. (April 11, 2018), the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit confirmed that a prospective change in the benefit formula for a defined benefit pension plan constituted neither an...more
4/17/2018
/ 401k ,
ADEA ,
Age Discrimination ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
IRS ,
Minimum Salary ,
Pension Plan Amendments ,
Plan Participants
With the US poised to decrease regulation and the outcome of Brexit unknown, multinational institutions face a great deal of unpredictability in the regulatory landscape. In this edition of Partnering Perspectives, we look at...more
In an internal memorandum to its examination agents dated February 23, 2017, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued guidance regarding the types of documentation that agents should request in verifying hardship withdrawals...more
The principal regulators of U.S. employee benefits have recently published updates to their guidance plans for the coming months.
..On August 15, 2016, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service...more
On June 21, the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued proposed Internal Revenue Code (Code) section 409A regulations, modifying existing proposed and final section 409A regulations regarding...more
On June 10, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Notice 2016-39 in response to inquiries regarding the appropriate tax treatment under section 72 of the Internal Revenue Code (the Code) for payments received by an...more
The principal regulators of U.S. employee benefits have recently published updates to their guidance plans for the coming months.
On May 18, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) updated its Semi-Annual Regulatory...more
The principal regulators of U.S. employee benefits have recently published updates to their guidance plans for the coming months.
On November 19, 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) updated its Semi-Annual...more
The principal regulators of U.S. employee benefits have recently published updates to their guidance plans for the coming months.
On May 21, 2015, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) updated its Semi-Annual Regulatory...more
In 2014, the Department of Labor (DOL) maintained a diminished program of advance guidance under the Employment Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA), in response to requests from the regulated community....more
On December 30, the Departments of Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services published a joint notice of proposed rulemaking modifying the Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC) final regulations issued in 2012. In...more
The principal regulators of U.S. employee benefits have recently published updates to their guidance plans for the coming months. The updated plans are reflected in the attached chart.
...more
In December 2014, the Treasury Department opened the myRA (my Retirement Account) program to employers and employees. President Obama announced the myRA program in his 2014 State of the Union Address. The program is intended...more