John Wick - What You Need To Know about the Corporate Transparency Act
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - ERISA Forfeiture Litigation
Once Removed Episode 24: Expressing Goals and Intent for the Trust
Episode 322 -- Checking in on Caremark Cases
What Can A Tax Attorney Do For You? A Podcast With Janathan Allen
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - New Federal Rule Aims to Hold Investment Advisors to a Higher Standard
A Primer On Trusts - A Podcast with Janathan Allen
Podcast - Deberes fiduciarios de los administradores
New SEC Private Funds Rules – What Is Happening and What You Need to Know - Troutman Pepper Podcast
Podcast Episode 189: Adding Context to Compliance and Color To Your Legal Practice
BVI Companies and M&A
Basics of Impact Investing: A Conversation About Investment Policies and Evaluation Metrics For ESG Investors
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Court Decisions Impacting Plan Sponsors and Fiduciaries
Litigation Trends In the Private Equity and Venture Capital Space
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - What Constitutes Plan Assets Under ERISA?
Update and Discussion on Legal and Practical Issues
Anne Daly, Judy Ringholz and Steve Ortquist on Healthcare Compliance Program Reviews
#WorkforceWednesday: SCOTUS in Review, Biden Acts to Limit Non-Competes, NY HERO Act Model Safety Plans - Employment Law This Week®
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Missing Plan Participants
Board Diversity Podcast
Who may be interested: Registered Investment Advisers, Mutual Funds, Compliance Officers - Quick Take: The SEC settled charges against two affiliated registered investment advisers, alleging that the advisers failed to...more
One of the multitude of recent cases challenging the recordkeeping fees of 401(k) plans recently made its way to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. Ramos v. Banner Health, No. 20-1231, — F.3d —- (10th Cir. June 11, 2021). ...more
Fidelity Investments settled a class-action lawsuit regarding its own 401(k) plan for $28.5 million. The class-action case alleged that Fidelity breached its fiduciary responsibility to plan participants by including its...more
SEC Proposes to Update Accredited Investor Definition to Increase Access to Investments - On December 18, 2019, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) proposed amendments to the definition of “accredited investor” in...more
On October 18, 2019, the SEC’s Division of Investment Management issued guidance in the form of Frequently Asked Questions that address certain matters regarding the disclosure of conflicts of interest involving the receipt...more
The staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) Division of Investment Management released frequently asked questions (FAQs) on October 18, 2019, which discuss certain compensation arrangements and related...more
Over the past several years, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) enforcement activity has eroded the stability of the once-standard lineup of share classes available to mutual fund investors. Starting with...more
This is the eleventh in a series of articles about Best Practices for Plan Sponsors. To be clear, “best practices” are not the same as legal requirements. Instead, they are about better ways to manage retirement plans. In...more
On Aug. 1, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) charged Commonwealth Equity Services LLC, dba Commonwealth Financial Network (Commonwealth), a registered independent investment adviser to private clients (but not...more
The US District Court for the District of Colorado granted partial summary judgment to 401(k) fiduciaries, holding that ERISA’s six-year statute of repose barred some claims and rejecting challenges to the plan’s fees....more
The landscape for the retirement plan business has radically changed since when I first started in 1998. Normal courses of business such as revenue sharing and non-transparency of fees were the order of the day. No one cared...more
Editor’s Overview - In 2016, we saw a considerable uptick in the number and variety of excessive fee lawsuits commenced against plan fiduciaries of defined contribution plans. We begin the year by taking a look at these...more
With an April 2017 deadline fast approaching, the Department of Labor (DOL) issues another frequently asked questions (FAQs) concerning the fiduciary rule which is always nice to get their interpretations of the rules with...more
Retirement plan revenue sharing has a bad reputation. Numerous lawsuits have been filed during the past year against employers that sponsor 401(k) plans alleging breach of fiduciary duty under the Employee Retirement Income...more
Editor's Overview - This month we take a look at the plaintiffs' past successes in fee litigations, and the influx of such lawsuits seeking to impose heightened fiduciary standards for 401(k) plans. Regardless of the...more
Avoiding The “Bumps” Of Being A Retirement Plan Provider - I’m a big fan of business history and every successful company that has ever been founded has had a few bumps along the way. For example, Apple almost went out...more
Add Great West under their Empower Retirement brand name as the latest bundled provider being sued. Great West is being sued for revenue sharing fees from mutual funds as part of their program....more
The Supreme Court is poised to address whether fiduciaries' decisions—especially in using fee sharing arrangements—are subject to deference when challenged. The Eighth and Ninth Circuit courts recently decided these issues,...more
In Golden Star Inc. v. MassMutual Life Ins. Co., 2014 WL 2117511 (D. Mass. May 20, 2014), a district court addressed two issues that have become hotly contested in 401(k) plan fee litigation: (1) whether and when a plan...more
For years, 401(k) plan service providers have utilized revenue sharing arrangements to "share" in the revenue earned from plan investments as a source of compensation. Until recently, the U.S. Department of Labor ("DOL") had...more
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently issued guidance on whether accounts holding revenue sharing payments constitute “plan assets” under ERISA. Prior to the issuance of the DOL guidance, it was unclear whether these...more
On July 3, 2013 the Employee Benefits Security Administration issued ERISA Advisory Opinion 2013-03A (the “AO”) to the Groom Law Group which had submitted a request on behalf of Principal Life Insurance Company (“Principal”)....more
Advisory opinion on "plan asset" issue lays out factors for fiduciary consideration. On July 3, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued Advisory Opinion 2013-03A, which discusses whether a bookkeeping account for...more