PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - New IRS Guidance on SECURE 2.0 Act Student Loan Employer Contributions
What Can A Tax Attorney Do For You? A Podcast With Janathan Allen
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Auto-Portability: A New Way to Keep Retirement Savings Growing
#WorkforceWednesday: SECURE Act 2.0 - What 401(k) Plan Sponsors Need to Know - Employment Law This Week®
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Plan Administrators’ 2022 Year-End Checklist
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Court Decisions Impacting Plan Sponsors and Fiduciaries
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Helping Employers Address the Gender Gap in Retirement Savings
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Millennials, Boomers and Retirement Planning
The Form 5500: What All Employers and Plan Administrators Need to Know and How to Avoid Costly Fines
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Cryptocurrency in 401(k) Plans
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - What Constitutes Plan Assets Under ERISA?
2022 Resolutions: What Healthcare Practices Need To Tackle In the New Year
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Cautionary Tales for Preapproved Plan Documents
DOL Clarifies Timing of Lifetime Income Disclosures in Benefit Statements
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Back to the Future: SECURE Act and SECURE Act 2.0
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Payroll Integration for Plan Sponsors
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Plan Administrators’ 2020 Year-End Checklist
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Cybersecurity Considerations for Retirement Plan Sponsors
Three Timely Benefits Items Everyone Should Know
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - COVID-19 Edition - Employee Benefits Considerations When Conducting Furloughs and Layoffs
ESG stands for “environmental, social, and governance.” Though often overlooked, two recent cases — Spence v. American Airlines and Exxon v. Arjuna Capital, LLC — focus on G’s place in the ESG initialism. Here, we break...more
In 2021, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued cybersecurity guidance for ERISA-covered retirement plans. The guidance expands the duties retirement plan fiduciaries have when selecting service providers. Specifically, the DOL...more
On April 25, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor (the “DOL”) finalized a collection of regulatory changes in its ongoing quest to update the definition of a “fiduciary” under ERISA and Section 4975 of the Internal Revenue Code...more
Following previous failed attempts to expand the fiduciary liability of financial services providers, the DOL released a new rule that broadens the definition of “fiduciary” under ERISA. The new rule is expected to face...more
Clawback Rules. As previously discussed in last Winter’s Corporate Communicator, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC") adopted final rules in October 2022 directing the NYSE and Nasdaq to adopt listing standards that...more
The new “retirement security rule” package, issued by the U.S. Department of Labor (the “DOL”) on October 31, 2023, is the latest chapter in an almost 15-year effort by the DOL to amend the five-part test in its 1975...more
This newsletter provides updates employers should be aware of heading into 2024, including an outline of the updated 2024 retirement and welfare plan limits, instructions related to the “gag order” attestation requirements...more
Thanks to litigation, the Securities and Exchange Commission will likely approve a few Bitcoin-centric exchange-traded funds. That begs the question, will those ETFs be allowed as investments within 401(k) plans?...more
Digital assets are not the only coins drawing regulatory scrutiny these days. Earlier this year, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it filed a complaint against California-based Red Rock Secured...more
In the September edition of our Public Company Watch, we cover key issues impacting public companies, including the SEC’s new C&DIs and sample comment letter; considerations for issuers as they start their Form 10-Q...more
As discussed in our December 15, 2022 post, significant amendments to Rule 10b5-1 plan requirements took effect earlier this year. With the Justice Department announcing its first criminal prosecution challenging a Rule...more
The Department of Labor considers a rollover recommendation to be a recommendation to liquidate the investments in a participant’s 401(k) account or to transfer (and change) securities. In addition, as explained in...more
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is adding 20 positions to its Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit. These positions are all enforcement-related. None of the new staff will be charged with carrying out the SEC's...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The ever evolving landscape of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors and 401(k) plan investment options may have just become even more complicated....more
On May 9, the SEC announced an extension of the comment period for the proposed rulemaking, “Enhancement and Standardization of Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors,” until June 17, 2022. The scope and comment process...more
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently announced that it will be adding 20 positions to its newly renamed Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit, including fraud analysts, investigative staff attorneys, trial counsels,...more
Crypto seems to be everywhere these days. Just last week Fidelity Investments launched a bitcoin option for its 401(k) plans. The nation’s largest plan administrator is providing the 23,000 companies it manages retirement...more
Cryptocurrency investing has experienced a tidal wave of popularity since the fabled genesis of Bitcoin in 2009. This growth has been fueled by “extreme” investment returns (despite “extreme” volatility) and innovative means...more
On March 10, 2022, the U.S. Department of Labor (the “DOL”) issued Compliance Assistance Release No. 2022-01 (the “Release”) regarding 401(k) plan participant-directed investments in cryptocurrencies. The Release “cautions...more
Hot button ERISA fiduciary issues remain a focus for investment committees of 401(k) plans in 2022. From “excessive” fee litigation – including litigation over the duty to monitor the fees charged by various mutual funds...more
On December 21, 2021, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued additional guidance on the use of private equity investments in certain retirement plans, warning that most plan fiduciaries will not have enough experience to...more
Hinting that the US Department of Labor (DOL) is currently working on guidance related to cryptocurrency, the Acting Assistant Secretary for the DOL’s Employee Benefits Security Administration recently commented that the DOL...more
The Department of Labor’s Prohibited Transaction Exemption and Its Impact on Recommendations to Plans, Participants and IRAs (Part 6) - On February 16, 2021, the DOL’s prohibited transaction exemption (PTE) 2020-02 became...more
Credit Card Company To Integrate USDC Payments, 401(k) Advisor Integrates Bitcoin - A major U.S. credit card company has announced plans to link its global payments network of over 60 million merchants to a cryptocurrency...more
The US Department of Labor (DOL) issued an information letter in June 2020 indicating that, in limited circumstances, it will allow defined contribution retirement plans (such as 401(k) plans) to indirectly invest in private...more