PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - ERISA Forfeiture Litigation
ERISA Blog | Changes to the HIPAA Privacy Rules A Primer for Self-Insured Group Health Plans
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - What the J&J Case Means for Plan Administrators
The No Surprises Act: A Cost Saving Opportunity for Employer Plan Sponsors
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - New Federal Rule Aims to Hold Investment Advisors to a Higher Standard
Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation: Getting Ready for 2024 – Top-Hat Plans — Special Edition Podcast
Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation: Getting Ready for 2024 - Health and Welfare Plan Developments — Special Edition Podcast
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Partial Plan Terminations
Podcast Episode 189: Adding Context to Compliance and Color To Your Legal Practice
#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
An Inside Look as a Juror - FCRA Focus Podcast
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Multiemployer Plans
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Court Decisions Impacting Plan Sponsors and Fiduciaries
(A)ESOP's Fables - The Income and Estate Tax-Free ESOP
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - What Constitutes Plan Assets Under ERISA?
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Group Health Plan Service Provider Compensation Disclosure Requirements
Update and Discussion on Legal and Practical Issues
Welcome to 'Just Compensation'
#WorkforceWednesday: SCOTUS in Review, Biden Acts to Limit Non-Competes, NY HERO Act Model Safety Plans - Employment Law This Week®
The DOL has not appealed the decision in the Florida Federal District Court that vacated its fiduciary “re-interpretation.” That re-interpretation, in effect, said that ongoing investment advice to a rollover IRA could be...more
On June 29, 2020, the U.S. Department of Labor (the Department) formally reinstated its “five-part test” for determining what constitutes “investment advice” under ERISA and Section 4975 of the Internal Revenue Code (the...more
On June 29, the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) proposed a new exemption from the prohibited transaction provisions of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”) in connection with the...more
In Dorman v. Charles Schwab Corp., the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held on August 20, 2019 that claims under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) can generally be subject to mandatory...more
It’s official. The Department of Labor’s controversial, Obama-era Fiduciary Rule is dead and gone. On June 21, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued its mandate certifying its March 15 split decision...more
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals’ rejection of the DOL’s Fiduciary rule reintroduces the 1975 five-factor fiduciary test and creates uncertainty for plan sponsors, plan fiduciaries and investment advisors. After years of...more
After nearly a decade in the making, the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule appears to be officially dead. On June 21st, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued its mandate that finalized its earlier...more
For several years now we’ve been keeping you updated on the long and winding road of the Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) Fiduciary Rule....more
On June 21, 2018, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued its order, or mandate, putting into effect its earlier decision to vacate the Department of Labor’s (DOL) conflict of interest regulation (the fiduciary...more
The Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) conflict of interest rule, informally coined the “fiduciary rule,” sparked much debate when the regulations were proposed in 2015, and finalized in 2016, to expand the definition of fiduciary...more
On May 7, 2018, the Department of Labor (the “DOL”) issued a temporary non-enforcement policy regarding its investment advice fiduciary regulation (the “Fiduciary Rule”) in Field Assistance Bulletin 2018-02. This guidance was...more
What’s a financial advisor to do? On March 15, 2018, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Chamber of Commerce of the U.S. v. U.S. Dep’t. of Labor, No. 17-10238, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 6472 (5th Cir. Mar. 15, 2018) vacated –...more
The future of the Department of Labor’s Fiduciary rule is in limbo following the Fifth Circuit’s decision striking it down “in toto.” The future of the Fiduciary rule is uncertain, particularly in light of the Fifth...more
On March 15, the Fifth Circuit, in Chamber of Commerce, et. al. v. United States Department of Labor, a 46-page opinion, reversed the district court’s ruling upholding the Department of Labor (DOL) fiduciary rule and vacated...more
Although the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) staff is currently drafting proposed rules relating to the standard of conduct for broker-dealers and investment advisers, several states have decided not to wait for...more
On May 22, 2017, Department of Labor (“DOL”) Secretary Alexander Acosta announced in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal that the DOL would not issue another delay of the “fiduciary rule,” and that it was set to generally...more
On March 15, 2018, in a 2–1 decision, the Fifth Circuit vacated all parts of the Department of Labor's so-called "Fiduciary Rule" in Chamber of Commerce, et. al. v. Acosta, No. 17-10238 (5th Cir. March 15, 2018). The Labor...more
On March 15, 2018, in Chamber of Commerce of the U.S.A., et al. v. U.S. Department of Labor, the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit invalidated the Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) new investment advice fiduciary regulation...more
Just as we are tuning in for March Madness, it seems that the Department of Labor (Department) has been dealt the latest upset in the fight to implement its final rule, which regulates certain activities of financial service...more
On March 15, in Chamber of Commerce v. U.S. Department of Labor, No. 17-10238 (5th Cir. March 15, 2018), the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the Department of Labor’s (DOL’s) fiduciary rule in a 2-1 decision. ...more
It was the Ides of March for the Obama Administration’s “fiduciary duty rule” that sought to remake much of nation’s financial markets by back-door regulation of anyone dealing with IRA investors. The US Fifth Circuit...more
In a 2-1 decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit vacated the Department of Labor’s fiduciary rule, including the expanded definition of “investment advice fiduciary” and the associated exemptions. The...more
The Fifth Circuit on March 15 vacated U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) regulations that redefined the circumstances in which a person who provides investment advice in connection with a retirement plan or individual retirement...more
In 2017, the principal focus in the administration of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (ERISA), by the Department of Labor (DOL) appropriately remained one of the extraordinary developments...more
As reported in our November 28 client alert, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ (NAIC) Annuity Suitability Working Group (Suitability WG) circulated the proposed Suitability and Best Interest Standard of...more