Opening a retirement savings plan for employees (including founders!) is often a low-priority issue for startups and small businesses, but several states, including California, are trying to change that. In 2016, the...more
Following previous failed attempts to expand the fiduciary liability of financial services providers, the DOL released a new rule that broadens the definition of “fiduciary” under ERISA. The new rule is expected to face...more
5/3/2024
/ 401k ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Compliance ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Duty of Care ,
Duty of Loyalty ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Investment ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Management ,
Liability ,
New Regulations ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
With bank uncertainty making headlines, we answer employers’ most frequently asked questions about the consequences of payroll delays, strategies for mitigating risk and more.
...more
3/17/2023
/ 401k ,
Banking Sector ,
COBRA ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) ,
Furloughs ,
Income Taxes ,
IRS ,
Medicare ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Payroll Taxes ,
Penalties ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Trust Fund Recovery Penalty (TFRP) ,
Unemployment Insurance ,
Voluntary Fiduciary Compliance Program (VFCP) ,
Voluntary Reduction in Force
Can a new Department of Justice enforcement approach make clawback policies covering criminal activities a best practice?
The DOJ is implementing a new policy under which prosecutors will make clawback policies for...more
3/8/2023
/ Clawbacks ,
Compensation ,
Corporate Misconduct ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Dodd-Frank ,
Enforcement ,
Incentives ,
Risk Management ,
Sarbanes-Oxley ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) ,
White Collar Crimes
State law is critical to understanding the grandfather rule.
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act altered rules on deductibility of certain exec comp payments....more
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has proposed a number of updates to current regulations governing nonqualified deferred compensation under Section 409A of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. The proposed updates...more
Financial regulators have proposed new rules limiting the incentive pay of employees and other service providers at financial institutions.
The Dodd-Frank Act of 2010 prohibits incentive compensation that encourages...more
5/20/2016
/ Banks ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Clawbacks ,
Credit Unions ,
Dodd-Frank ,
FDIC ,
FHFA ,
Financial Institutions ,
Incentive Compensation ,
OCC ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has adopted final rules under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street and Consumer Protection Act (the Dodd-Frank Act) to require U.S. public companies to disclose the ratio of the annual total...more
On June 25, 2015, in a 6-3 majority opinion, the U.S. Supreme Court confirmed the availability of premium subsidies for health coverage purchased on Affordable Care Act (ACA) health insurance exchanges, regardless of whether...more
On April 29, 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed a new rule under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act that would require public companies to disclose the relationship between...more
In conflicting opinions released on July 22nd, two federal circuits split on whether Affordable Care Act subsidies are available under a federally operated health insurance exchange. “Pay or play” penalties apply only if...more
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) imposes significant new reporting requirements on employers providing self-insured group health coverage to their employees and employers subject to the shared...more
On October 4, 2013, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law Assembly Bill (“AB”) 1173, which reduces from 20 percent to 5 percent the additional California tax on nonqualified deferred compensation that fails to comply with...more
The IRS has released a revised version of Form 720 “Quarterly Federal Excise Tax Return” for sponsors of self-insured health plans to pay annual fees imposed under the Affordable Care Act. The fee for 2013 is $1 per covered...more
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) has proposed regulatory safe harbors waiving the obligation of financially sound defined benefit pension plans and the companies that maintain them from the duty to report...more
Beginning in 2014, large U.S. employers that do not offer a minimum level of affordable health coverage to their full-time employees may be required to pay an assessment of up to $3,000 per employee. For plan years beginning...more
New regulations have been issued under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“PPACA”) implementing annual fees and reporting requirements on self-insured health plans and indirectly on fully insured plans. The...more
1/17/2013
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Form 720 ,
HRA ,
HSA ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
PCORI ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Self-Insured Health Plans ,
Transitional Reinsurance Program
In This Edition:
- Year-end Deadline for Correcting Section 409A Deferred Compensation Arrangements That Condition Payment on an Employee Release or Covenant:
By December 31, 2012, all deferred compensation...more