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DOL Final Rule 4.0 - Correcting the historical record

From the 2010 outset of its project to extend ERISA fiduciary status broadly to financial intermediaries, including insurance agents, the US Department of Labor (DOL) has consistently relied on the evolution of the private...more

Department of Labor’s final Fiduciary Rule 4.0

On April 23, 2024, the US Department of Labor (DOL) released its Final Rule 4.0 regarding ERISA fiduciary investment advice, including amended exemptions for conflicted investment advice. Our initial analysis of the Final...more

IRS SECURE 2.0 guidance answers key questions

The IRS released long-awaited guidance under the SECURE 2.0 Act on December 20, 2023. Notice 2024-2 (Notice) provides clarification of various provisions, including several optional features that plan sponsors have been...more

Checking it twice: Benefit plan end of year actions to consider

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

DOL opines on plan sponsor’s diverse investment manager program

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

More time to catch up: IRS announces two year delay of Roth catch-up requirement

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

Preparing employee benefit plans for the emergency exit

The end of an era looms for employee benefits plans, as the Biden administration has announced the end of both the Public Health Emergency and the National Emergency periods on May 11, 2023. The two emergency periods were...more

Simply the vest: IRS streamlines rules for retirement plan forfeitures

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

SECURE 2.0 in 2023 and beyond

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 CARES: Deadline extension for retirement plan amendments

​​​​​​​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

DOL makes no secret of its concerns about crypto

The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued Compliance Assistance Release No. 2022-01 on March 10, 2022, cautioning 401(k) plan fiduciaries to “exercise extreme care” before they allow participant investments in cryptocurrency...more

Plans and insurers must cover over-the-counter COVID-19 tests under new tri-agency guidance

Health plans and insurers must generally cover over-the-counter COVID-19 tests under Frequency Asked Questions (FAQs) issued on January 10 by the Departments of Labor, Treasury and Health and Human Services (tri-agencies)....more

Unlocking the process: Guide to ERISA individual prohibited transaction exemptions

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

Proposed ERISA regulation may facilitate ESG in retirement plans

On October 14, 2021, the US Department of Labor (DOL) proposed changes to ERISA regulations that would again shift the analysis of consideration of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors in retirement plans...more

IRS goes for gold with EPCRS Expansion

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

DOL warns the ERISA fiduciary debate is far from over

In a troubling development, the US Department of Labor (DOL) has announced its expectation that it will proceed to propose yet another iteration of investment advice guidance under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act...more

Courts weigh in on participant data under ERISA

A district court decision in March has added to the sparse authority regarding the status of participant data under ERISA, particularly whether recordkeepers or other providers can use that data to offer additional products...more

COBRA AEI: Congress sweeps the legs of employee COBRA costs

On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act (the Act), which includes some notable changes and relief for employers and workers. This legal alert summarizes the key issues relating to the Act’s...more

American Rescue Plan saves employers from two months without legislation

On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act (the Act), which includes some notable changes and relief for employers and employee benefit plans. The Act expands the section 162(m) deduction...more

IRS issues guidance on retirement plan CARES Act distributions and loans

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

Social distancing: When states decouple from the federal CARES Act

The CARES Act provides for special federal tax treatment for “coronavirus-related distributions” from most types of tax-qualified retirement plans and IRAs. The distribution must be made between January 1, 2020 and December...more

Emerging benefit plan issues relating to the coronavirus

As employers prepare their workforces for issues related to COVID-19, they should also take steps to ensure that their benefit plans are prepared. The impact of the virus will put a financial and logistical strain on many...more

Congress delivers SECURE and more in year-end benefits bonanza

On December 20, 2019, President Trump signed into law the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 (the “Appropriations Act”), a comprehensive government funding bill that includes substantial employee benefits-related...more

A website for sore eyes - DOL proposes electronic disclosure regulations 

On October 23, 2019, the United States Department of Labor (DOL) published proposed regulations that would add a new safe harbor for the use of electronic disclosures by retirement plans subject to the Employee Retirement...more

Supreme Court will again review the pleading standard for retirement plan “stock drop” claims

On June 4, 2019, the US Supreme Court granted the petition for writ of certiorari of the defendant fiduciaries in Retirement Plans Committee of IBM, et al. v. Larry W. Jander, No. 18-1165. The justices will review the Second...more

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