On June 27, 2023, Governor Lamont signed House Bill 6930 into law as Public Act 23-182 (Act). The Act requires municipalities and other governmental employers to provide information to the Office of the State Comptroller...more
On June 3, 2022, the IRS announced that it is establishing a new pre-examination retirement plan compliance program beginning this month. This program will notify a plan sponsor by letter that their retirement plan was...more
In response to what many financial experts consider a retirement savings crisis, the State of Connecticut enacted legislation in 2016 creating the Connecticut Retirement Security Authority (CRSA). The CRSA was tasked with...more
On December 27, 2020, President Trump signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the CAA), a second stimulus package and the most recent of several major pieces of legislation to be enacted since the start of...more
1/8/2021
/ CARES Act ,
Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Employee Benefits ,
Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) ,
Flexible Spending Accounts ,
Health and Welfare Plans ,
Health Insurance ,
Infectious Diseases ,
New Legislation ,
Retirement Plan ,
Tax Credits
On June 19, 2020, the IRS issued Notice 2020-50, which provides additional guidance pertaining to coronavirusrelated distributions and qualified plan loans made pursuant to the CARES Act enacted on March 27, 2020, as well as...more
On May 27, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a final rule providing a new “notice and access” safe harbor for retirement plan fiduciaries to distribute ERISA required disclosures electronically (Final Rule). The...more
On May 4, 2020, the Department of Labor and Department of Treasury (the Departments) issued joint guidance requiring certain COBRA, HIPAA and ERISA deadlines be determined without regard to the “Outbreak Period,” which began...more
Connecticut has been focused on the fiduciary standards of financial planners and retirement plan administrators in the wake of the now-defunct Department of Labor "fiduciary rule." With the goals of creating both...more
10/23/2018
/ 403(b) Plans ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Financial Planning ,
Investment Opportunities ,
Municipalities ,
Plan Administrators ,
Retirement Plan ,
State and Local Government
The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (Act) was approved by Congress and signed into law by the President on February 9, 2018. Included in the Act are certain provisions impacting retirement plans that were initially considered...more
On January 2, 2018, the Internal Revenue Service(IRS) issued Internal Revenue Bulletin 2018-1, containing Internal Revenue Procedure 2018-4, which includes new user fees for submissions under the Voluntary Correction Program...more
After much back and forth, the House and Senate both voted to pass the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (Act), and the President is expected to sign the legislation shortly. The changes made by the Act are arguably the biggest leap...more
12/21/2017
/ Compensation & Benefits ,
Deferred Compensation ,
Excise Tax ,
Executive Compensation ,
Fringe Benefits ,
Incentive Compensation ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Retirement Plan ,
Tax Deductions ,
Tax Exempt Entities ,
Tax Rates ,
Tax Reform ,
Trump Administration
New legislation, effective January 1, 2018, will require certain payors of pensions and annuities to withhold Connecticut state income tax from distributions made from an employer pension, annuity, profit-sharing plan, stock...more
On September 12, 2017, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued Announcement 2017-13, which provides guidance on the ability of qualified plans to provide plan loans and hardship distributions to people in Florida affected...more
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has filed a proposal with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to delay implementation of the following exemptions under the fiduciary rule from January 1, 2018 to July 1, 2019...
...more
8/11/2017
/ Best Interest Contract Exemptions ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Management ,
PTE 84-24 ,
Retirement Plan
On May 22, 2017, Department of Labor (DOL) Secretary Alexander Acosta announced in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal that the DOL will not issue another delay of the “fiduciary rule,” set to become generally effective on...more
As ordered by President Trump in a presidential memorandum on February 3, 2017, (Memorandum), the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) proposed a 60-day delay to its conflict of interest rule (commonly referred to as the “fiduciary...more
4/11/2017
/ Best Interest Contract Exemptions ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Investment Adviser ,
Retirement ,
Retirement Plan ,
Trump Administration
On February 3, 2017, President Trump signed a presidential memorandum (Memorandum) ordering the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) to review its conflict of interest rule defining the term “fiduciary” for retirement investment...more
2/7/2017
/ Best Interest Standard ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Financial Adviser ,
Investment Adviser ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Retirement ,
Retirement Plan ,
Trump Administration
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently issued its annual update regarding dollar limitations on contributions and benefits applicable to tax-qualified retirement and welfare plans for 2017.
...more
11/4/2016
/ 401k ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Defined Benefit Plans ,
Defined Contribution Plans ,
Employee Benefits ,
Health and Welfare Plans ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Qualified Benefit Plans ,
Qualified Retirement Plans ,
Retirement ,
Retirement Plan
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently issued General Counsel Memorandum 201634021 (Memorandum), clarifying benefit coverage requirements for employees of a disregarded LLC wholly owned by a single member tax-exempt...more
Most employers are generally aware of their fiduciary status as a “plan sponsor” of an ERISA-governed retirement plan (e.g., 401(k) and 403(b) plans). In fact, the employer’s hiring of a service provider is in and of itself a...more
10/4/2016
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
Benefit Plan Sponsors ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Protection ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Popular ,
Retirement ,
Retirement Plan ,
Third-Party
On April 6, 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued its long-awaited final conflict of interest rule defining the term “fiduciary” for retirement investment advice purposes. The final regulations and accompanying...more
On January 29, 2016, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released Notice 2016 - 16 , which provides, effective immediately, significant relief with respect to the ability of a plan sponsor to make midyear changes to a safe...more