The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published a proposed regulation on October 14, 2021, that would clarify how fiduciaries of private sector employee benefit plans should apply ERISA’s fiduciary duties of prudence and loyalty...more
10/29/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Environmental Social & Governance (ESG) ,
Executive Orders ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Investment ,
Investment Management ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Proxy Voting ,
Public Comment ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Shareholder Rights
President Donald Trump signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the Omnibus Bill) on December 27, 2020. The Omnibus Bill has received a great deal of media coverage due to its massive size (nearly 6,000...more
12/31/2020
/ Cafeteria Plans ,
CARES Act ,
Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employer Group Health Plans ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health and Welfare Plans ,
IRS ,
New Legislation ,
Retirement Plan ,
Student Loans ,
Trump Administration
Employee benefits professionals have faced many challenges in 2020. We have seen remarkable changes to state and local requirements, an onslaught of new benefits legislation and governmental policies, shifting reporting and...more
12/10/2020
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Cybersecurity ,
Deferred Compensation ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Final Rules ,
Investment Funds ,
IRS ,
Power of Attorney ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Retirement Plan ,
Safe Harbors ,
SECURE Act ,
State and Local Government ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
Many employee benefit plan sponsors, administrators, and fiduciaries have been asking about regulatory relief in response to administrative challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Most recently, the U.S. Departments of...more
5/5/2020
/ Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
CARES Act ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
EBSA ,
Economic Injury Disaster Loans ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Extensions ,
U.S. Treasury
Thirty-five years after deciding that arbitration clauses in employee benefit plans governed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) were unenforceable, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit...more
10/23/2019
/ Arbitration ,
Arbitration Agreements ,
Arbitrators ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Binding Arbitration ,
Class Action Arbitration Waivers ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Mandatory Arbitration Clauses ,
Plan Administrators ,
Retirement Plan
Starting April Fools’ Day, all Voluntary Correction Program (VCP) submissions and fee payments under the IRS’s Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS) must be made online; the IRS will no longer process paper VCP...more
The IRS released a private letter ruling on August 17, 2018, in which it approved a student loan repayment benefit that was connected to an employer’s contributions to its 401(k) plan. Though the IRS’s ruling applies only to...more