PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - New IRS Guidance on SECURE 2.0 Act Student Loan Employer Contributions
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - ERISA Forfeiture Litigation
La Reforma Pensional en Colombia
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Understanding Lifetime Income Products
Multiemployer Pension Plans in Mergers and Acquisitions — Troutman Pepper Podcast
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Trends in Recordkeeper Consolidation and Due Diligence
Long-Term Part-Time Employee Eligibility Rules Now in Effect — Troutman Pepper Podcast
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - What the J&J Case Means for Plan Administrators
#WorkforceWednesday: SECURE 2.0 Act - Navigating New Retirement Plan Provisions in 2024 - Employment Law This Week®
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - SECURE 2.0: Leveraging Opportunities Employees Want Most
What Can A Tax Attorney Do For You? A Podcast With Janathan Allen
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Understanding Fees in Retirement Planning
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - ESG Investing by Retirement Plans
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 - Health and Welfare Plan Developments — Special Edition Podcast
Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation: Getting Ready for 2024 - Qualified Plans — Special Edition Podcast
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Auto-Portability: A New Way to Keep Retirement Savings Growing
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - IRS 2024 Health Plan Affordability Threshold May Put Some at Risk
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Partial Plan Terminations
PODCAST: Williams Mullen's Benefits Companion - Virginia Launches New Retirement Savings Program
One question that often comes up is whether an expense related to an ERISA plan can be paid with plan assets. The decision of whether to use ERISA plan assets to pay an expense is an ERISA fiduciary decision. With the recent...more
As part of our ongoing series on SECURE 2.0, this post discusses three significant changes to corrections of common retirement plan errors: (1) New rules for correcting overpayments, (2) expansion of the Self-Correction...more
The Department of Labor (DOL) recently removed one regulatory hurdle for public companies that maintain employee benefit plans subject to the Form 5500 requirement. Specifically, the DOL has relaxed the criteria for who...more
For many retirement plan sponsors, Form 5500 preparation season is underway. Plan sponsors should be aware that things have changed with the Form 5500 audit requirements and procedures. These changes push more...more
In July 2019, the Auditing Standards Board of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) issued a revised Statement on Auditing Standards No. 136 entitled, “Forming an Opinion and Reporting on Financial...more
Attorneys from our Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation practice provide insights on current issues facing various types of employee benefits programs. Topics include: - Cybersecurity - DOL Audit Initiatives -...more
A plan with 100 or more participants requires an audit of a plan’s financial standing conducted by an independent qualified public accountant to be submitted along with Form 5500....more
Attorneys have a bad reputation and a lot of times, it’s warranted. I jokingly said I knew why people hated lawyers just by going to law school....more
In June the Internal Revenue Service released an updated Nonqualified Deferred Compensation Audit Technique Guide. This updated Guide replaces the initial Guide published in 2015. While it is too early to say whether the...more
To increase protections for the estimated $9.3 trillion in American retirement assets, the Department of Labor (DOL) has begun a new cybersecurity audit initiative for retirement plans. After providing its first set of...more
The worst thing you can do is to handle things that you can’t. The one thing that plan sponsors can’t handle and shouldn’t is when they are contacted by the Internal Revenue Service and Department of Labor for an audit of...more
In light of a new DOL audit initiative and increasing cybersecurity threats to ERISA benefit plans, ERISA plan sponsors and fiduciaries should be prepared to answer some important questions: Do the cybersecurity programs of...more
Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Labor (the “DOL”) issued informal guidance outlining “best practices” for managing the cybersecurity risks facing employer-sponsored retirement plans. Although the DOL has...more
On April 14, 2021, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released three-part guidance on cybersecurity issues for employee benefit plans, marking its first significant commentary on the issue since its comprehensive but...more
The Employee Benefits Security Administration of the United States Department of Labor (“EBSA”) recently published guidance regarding cybersecurity best practices for recordkeepers and service providers responsible for plan...more
In response to a request by U.S. Senators Ron Wyden (Oregon), Bernie Sanders (Vermont) and Patty Murray (Washington), the Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) earlier this year completed a study and published a report...more
With calendar year-end Form 5500s due on July 31, or October 15 with an extension (and still no COVID-19 filing relief as of the date this blog was published), it’s that time of year where plan sponsors begin thinking about...more
It’s an easy requirement that many plan sponsors think they’ve accomplished, but they haven’t received the right one. We’re talking about an ERISA bond and often plan sponsors on a Department of Labor audit are told by the...more
When you get pulled over by the police while driving, the best way to handle is to be pleasant and not be argumentative. You listen to the officer as to why he pulled over. Being belligerent and non-cooperative will only lead...more
Use of Forfeitures for Safe Harbor Contributions, QNECS and QMACS - The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) recently issued final regulations allowing forfeitures in 401(k) plans to be used to fund safe harbor contributions,...more
In July 2016, the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL), the Internal Revenue Service, and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation released proposed revisions to the Form 5500 Annual Return required for certain ERISA-covered...more
When you’re filing that Form 5500, just notice that certain answers may likely lead you to an Internal Revenue Service or Department of Labor audit....more
An employer is required to file an annual audit report of its retirement plan with the federal government if the plan has over 100 participants. Form 5500 submissions that omit a required audit report in any year invite...more
If you have a retirement plan with more than 100 participants, you probably have a plan audit (if you have more than 120 participants, you do). Like with any plan providers, there a lot of great auditors out there and some...more
Under ERISA, retirement plans and self-insured welfare plans with 100 or more participants (measured as of the beginning of the plan year) are generally required to conduct annual audits, and to include the audit reports with...more