On April 14, 2021, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued several pieces of guidance on cyber security best practices, including: (1) a press release, (2) Online Security Tips for retirement plan participants, (3) a Tips for...more
As 2020 drew to a close, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) finalized a number of regulations relating to the fiduciary duties that apply to ERISA plan investments, including: (1) a final rule generally restricting fiduciaries...more
In May 2020, the Department of Labor jointly with the Department of Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service (the “Agencies”) released guidance delaying and extending many common deadlines for employee benefit plans. In...more
The Department of Labor (DOL) has issued long-awaited guidance on what it views as appropriate procedures for retirement plans to locate missing or nonresponsive participants. Plan sponsors and fiduciaries of all retirement...more
As required by the SECURE Act of 2019, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) published an interim final rule requiring plan administrators of individual account plans (including 401(k) plans, 403(b) plans and other defined...more
On June 29, 2020, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced1 its new approach to the standards for financial institutions and investment professionals who provide investment advice on a nondiscretionary basis to 401(k) plans,...more
8/7/2020
/ 401k ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Prohibited Transactions ,
Regulation Best Interest ,
Retirement Plan
On June 29, 2020, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) announced its new approach to the standards for financial institutions and investment professionals who provide investment advice on a nondiscretionary basis to 401(k) plans,...more
The Department of Labor (DOL) has issued final regulations providing a new “notice and access” safe harbor (the “NOA Safe Harbor”) for retirement plans to furnish required disclosures by email or other electronic means to...more
On August 31, 2018, President Trump issued an Executive Order on “Strengthening Retirement Security in America.” The Executive Order is intended to set the policy for the Department of Labor (DOL) and the IRS in three...more
The Fifth Circuit has issued a long-awaited mandate of its order vacating the Department of Labor’s (DOL) Fiduciary Rule in toto on June 21, 2018. In March, a panel majority of the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an...more
The Fifth Circuit’s March decision vacating the Fiduciary Rule appears likely to stand. On May 22, 2018, the Fifth Circuit denied motions by the States of California, New York and Oregon to reconsider a denial of their prior...more
On April 23, 2018, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued Field Assistance Bulletin 2018-01 (FAB 2018-1) warning its national and regional offices that fiduciaries who invest plan assets based on public policy factors or who...more
The Department of Labor (DOL) finalized the Fiduciary Rule’s transition period extension from January 1, 2018 to July 1, 2019, as it had previously announced in August. The DOL reported that it has not yet completed the...more
On October 19th, the IRS released a memorandum titled “Missing Participants and Beneficiaries and Required Minimum Distributions” (the “Memo”) to its plan auditors that provides guidelines for when a plan’s efforts to locate...more
The Department of Labor (DOL) has proposed an extension of the transition period of its Fiduciary Rule from January 1, 2018 to July 1, 2019. At the same time, the DOL signaled that significant changes will be made to the...more
Transition Period Extension -
In an August 9th court filing, the DOL announced it will extend the transition period for three prohibited transaction exemptions relating to the fiduciary investment advice rule (the...more
8/10/2017
/ 401k ,
Best Interest Contract Exemptions ,
Broker-Dealer ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Investment Adviser ,
Popular ,
Retirement Plan
On May 22, Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary Alexander Acosta announced that, despite President Trump’s memorandum ordering further analysis of the fiduciary investment advice rule (Fiduciary Rule), there was no legal...more
The Department of Labor (DOL) has now made clear that it intends for its controversial “Fiduciary Rule” to become effective on June 9, 2017. The Fiduciary Rule expands the definition of “fiduciary investment advice” under...more
The Presidential Memorandum directing the Department of Labor (the “Department”) to review the Fiduciary Rule (the “Rule”) produced its first significant regulatory impact for the investment advisor community yesterday as the...more
On March 10th, in connection with the DOL’s recent proposal to delay the applicability of the fiduciary rule, the DOL issued temporary guidance (Field Assistance Bulletin No. 2017-01) regarding how it will enforce the rule in...more