The IRS has long permitted sponsors of individually designed pension and 401(k) retirement plans qualified under Section 401(a) of the Code to obtain a favorable determination letter on the status of their tax-qualified...more
Acknowledging uncommon market conditions, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) announced Technical Update Number 23-1 (the Update), which provides a one-time waiver of certain reporting requirements for some...more
A new bill introduced in Congress would allow 403(b) plans maintained by tax-exempt organizations to make use of collective investment trust (CIT) investments—an alternative to mutual funds that may provide significant cost...more
Welcome to the inaugural Private Markets Update, which highlights developments in the European private markets, covering the issues that matter to investors in alternative assets. Touching on themes as diverse as predictions...more
5/31/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Capital Markets ,
Cross-Border ,
EU ,
FinTech ,
Germany ,
Investment ,
Investors ,
Mergers ,
National Security ,
OECD ,
Pillar 2 ,
Private Equity ,
Private Equity Funds ,
Restructuring ,
UK
On August 4, 2022, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM or proposed rule) to reinterpret section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which prohibits...more
8/5/2022
/ ADEA ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ,
Enforcement ,
Final Rules ,
Limited English Proficiency (LEP) ,
Medicare Part A ,
Medicare Part B ,
Non-Discrimination Rules ,
Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NOPR) ,
PACE ,
Proposed Rules ,
Rehabilitation Act ,
Reproductive Healthcare Issues ,
Title VI
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is strategically working to execute the statutory changes that were outlined by the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act (SECURE Act) of 2019. However, the IRS’s efforts...more
4/12/2022
/ 403(b) Plans ,
501(c)(3) ,
Deadlines ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employer Contributions ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Required Minimum Distributions ,
Retirement Plan ,
SECURE Act ,
U.S. Treasury
Proactively addressing family care support needs is critical to an organization’s success, and now more than ever, employers are asking for guidance as they progress their plans to address family care inclusion. Join...more
The US Department of Labor (DOL) recently issued guidance concerning a new exemption under the prohibited transaction provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) in connection with the provision...more
7/16/2021
/ Banks ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disclosure ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employees ,
Exemptions ,
Fiduciary ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Insurance Industry ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Investment ,
Investment Adviser ,
New Guidance ,
Personal Representatives ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Retirement Plan
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (the PBGC) kicked off 2021 by releasing a final rule intended to streamline withdrawal liability calculations for multiemployer plans that are or were in “critical” or “endangered”...more
The Department of Labor (DOL) issued a proposed rule with 30-day comment period to address the application of fiduciaries’ duties with respect to proxy voting and exercises of other shareholder rights. The proposal requires...more
The US Department of Labor (DOL) issued an information letter in June 2020 indicating that, in limited circumstances, it will allow defined contribution retirement plans (such as 401(k) plans) to indirectly invest in private...more
9/14/2020
/ 401k ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Employees ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Information Letters ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Management ,
New Guidance ,
Private Equity ,
Private Equity Funds ,
Retirement Plan ,
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
One day before an updated rule of the US Department of Health and Human Services regarding Section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act took effect, the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York...more
On June 12, 2020, the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) finalized a rule under Section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the 2020 Final Rule) that...more
6/18/2020
/ Altitude Express Inc v Zarda ,
Bostock v Clayton County Georgia ,
Civil Rights Act ,
EEOC v RG & GR Harris Funeral Homes ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Gender Identity ,
Hiring & Firing ,
LGBTQ ,
SCOTUS ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Sexual Orientation ,
Sexual Orientation Discrimination ,
Title VII ,
Transgender
Much has been written about the new CARES Act distribution that allows impacted COVID-19 participants to access up to $100,000 in their tax-qualified defined contribution plan penalty-free and with income taxes spread over...more
In-house counsel and human resources professionals at tax-exempt colleges and universities often face a variety of challenges when structuring, and determining obligations due under, severance arrangements. There are some key...more
8/20/2019
/ COBRA ,
Colleges ,
Educational Institutions ,
Employee Benefits ,
Excise Tax ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Retirement Plan ,
Severance Agreements ,
Severance Pay ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Tax Exempt Entities ,
Termination ,
Universities ,
Wage and Hour
Overview -
..Understanding Gender Identity and Gender Expression
..The Business Case for Transgender Inclusion
..Legal Trends
..Best Practices for Workplace Policies
..Transgender Employee Benefits
..Best Practices...more
The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit ruled on March 7, 2018, that workplace discrimination on the basis of gender identity and gender expression violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The language of...more
On February 26, 2018, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (covering Connecticut, New York and Vermont) ruled that workplace discrimination on the basis sexual orientation violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act...more
The new tax reform legislation includes important changes to the tax treatment of employer-sponsored benefit programs, including transportation benefit programs and moving expense reimbursements. The law also creates a new...more
Joe Urwitz, Todd Solomon and Chris Nemeth discuss provisions of The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) of particular relevance to tax-exempt entities and their investment managers, as well as ongoing...more
On February 28, Todd Solomon and Maureen O’Brien presented a Strafford live webinar, “Private Equity Compliance With ERISA: Navigating Manager Fiduciary Duties for Funds Holding ERISA Plan Assets”. ERISA imposes fiduciary...more
In the presentation “Highlights of Record Retention Requirements Applicable to Employee Benefit Plans,” Todd A. Solomon detailed the general rules of The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). He discussed...more
The effects of same-sex marriage on employee benefits, companies’ actions to prevent employee discrimination and an evolving focus on benefits with special implications for diverse employees continue to be hot topics in...more
The recent wave of 403(b) lawsuits against more than a dozen prominent US universities could herald similar suits for other 403(b) plan sponsors. Plan sponsors can minimize their risk by reviewing their plan governance...more
9/8/2016
/ 403(b) Plans ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Breach of Duty ,
Class Action ,
Educational Institutions ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fees ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Investment Management ,
Retirement Plan ,
Universities
In the last several months, plaintiffs have filed multiple class action lawsuits against plan sponsors, plan fiduciaries and stable value fund providers. These lawsuits, which have involved 401(k) plans sponsored by large...more
6/1/2016
/ 401k ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Breach of Duty ,
Class Action ,
Duty of Loyalty ,
Duty of Prudence ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Management ,
Investor Protection ,
Retirement Plan