The US Department of Labor recently issued Field Assistance Bulletin (FAB) 2025-01, a temporary enforcement policy regarding the transfer of small retirement plan benefits to state unclaimed property funds. This development...more
The US Department of Education’s (the Department’s) Office for Civil Rights issued a sweeping “Dear Colleague” letter on February 14, 2025 outlining a new zero-tolerance policy for the consideration of race in any regard by...more
In many situations, practitioners recommend establishing a fiduciary committee to oversee ERISA-covered employee benefit plans. There are several reasons for this, including providing a well-defined process for...more
Recently, we have become aware of what appears to be a new approach in the US Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) Form 5500 Annual Report (Form 5500) penalty program, including increased penalties and faster enforcement actions....more
The US Department of Labor (DOL) issued a press release on September 6, 2024 reminding ERISA plan fiduciaries that it considers cybersecurity to be an area of “great concern” and emphasizing that it continues to investigate...more
The US Department of Labor and Internal Revenue Service have issued coordinated guidance on the pension-linked emergency savings account (PLESA), a new in-plan emergency savings account feature created by the SECURE 2.0 Act...more
The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released a notice providing guidance on various provisions of the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (SECURE 2.0). Some of the topics touched on in the guidance include automatic enrollment, the...more
On November 24, 2023, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) proposed long-awaited regulations providing guidance on the required coverage of long-term, part-time employees (LTPTEs) under the Setting Every Community Up for...more
Effective as of January 1, 2023, payors of qualified plan distributions have been required to use a redesigned IRS Form W-4P for payee withholding elections on periodic payments and a new Form W-4R for nonperiodic payments...more
To the great relief of many plan sponsors, administrators, recordkeepers, and payroll vendors, the IRS issued highly anticipated relief regarding the mandatory "Rothification" of catch-up contributions....more
Recipients of periodic or annuity retirement plan distributions provide a Form W-4P to payors of pension or annuity payments for the correct amount of federal income tax to be withheld from these distributions. (While...more
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released Notice 2023-43 (Notice) on May 25, which provided guidance regarding the expansion of the IRS’s Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS) mandated by Section 305 of the...more
6/5/2023
/ Comment Period ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Employee Benefits ,
EPCRS ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
IRS ,
Public Comment ,
Retirement Plan ,
SECURE Act ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Voluntary Correction Program
The SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (SECURE 2.0) makes far-ranging changes to the US employer–retirement plan system intended to expand access to retirement plans and encourage savings by US workers. This LawFlash more closely...more
The SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 makes far-ranging changes to the US employer-retirement plan system. This LawFlash—one in a series—more closely examines the act’s provisions that expand and encourage retirement plan participation....more
The SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 makes far-ranging changes to the US employer-retirement plan system intended to expand access to retirement plans and encourage savings by US workers. This LawFlash—one in a series—examines...more
Signed into law at the very end of 2022, the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (SECURE Act 2.0) makes far-ranging changes to the US employer-retirement plan system. Continuing momentum and themes from earlier legislation (notably, the...more
After months of on-again off-again consideration of competing bills, US Congress capitalized on bipartisan support for retirement plan legislation to deliver the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 (SECURE Act 2.0) as part of the year-end...more
As described in our prior blog post, the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently extended many impending amendment deadlines for legislative changes made by the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act of...more
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) provided a late summer gift to retirement plan sponsors by extending some year-end plan amendment deadlines. In Notice 2022-33, the IRS extended the remedial amendment deadlines for certain...more
The IRS pilot program allows a plan sponsor to conduct a self-examination before a full or limited retirement plan audit would be initiated. In its June 3, 2022, Employee Plans Newsletter, IRS Employee Plans announced a...more
The focus of the US Department of Labor (DOL) on missing participants and uncashed checks (discussed in our LawFlash DOL Guidance on Missing Participants Is No Longer Missing) recently began expanding into the area of...more
The IRS issued Notice 2021-40 (the Notice) on June 24 that provides a 12-month extension (until June 30, 2022) of the temporary relief from the requirement that certain retirement plan elections be witnessed – in person – by...more
We repeatedly warned over the past few months, that officials at the highest levels of the DOL were signaling that the DOL would begin an audit initiative focusing on retirement plan cybersecurity practices. ...more
6/11/2021
/ Audits ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Protection ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Fiduciary ,
Fiduciary-Standards ,
Investment Management ,
Popular ,
Retirement Plan
As noted in our recent blog post, the US Department of Labor (DOL) has repeatedly signaled that it would be turning its focus toward the intersection of cybersecurity practices and ERISA’s fiduciary duties. ...more
There has been an increasing focus in recent years on the intersection of ERISA’s fiduciary duties and the issues of cybersecurity and data (including participant data) protection. Beyond the potential for pecuniary and...more