On May 13, 2022, IRS issued Notice 2022-27, further extending Covid-related temporary relief from the requirement that a spousal consent to a plan distribution be witnessed in the “physical presence” of a notary or plan representative. In what follows, we briefly review the Notice, what the temporary rules are, and the possibility that they might…Read More
On May 5, 2022, Senator Tuberville (R-AL) introduced the “Financial Freedom Act of 2022.” The bill would push back on recent positions the Department of Labor has taken with respect to, e.g., “climate related financial risk,” private equity, and cryptocurrency investments, particularly in participant directed defined contribution plans.
In June 2020, the (Trump Administration) Department of Labor issued an Information Letter with respect to the inclusion of private equity investments as a “component” of a fund (e.g., a target date fund) included in a fund menu in a participant directed defined contribution plan. On December 21, 2021, the (Biden Administration) DOL issued a “Supplemental Statement” with respect to the 2020 Information Letter, qualifying and limiting the application of the (2020) Information Letter in some respects.
We consider briefly the treatment in Khan v. Pentegra of two issues: (1) who is the responsible fiduciary? and (2) for fee comparison purposes, what plans are comparable to a MEP?
Multiple employer plans (MEPs) are emerging as a provider-based alternative to single employer 401(k) plans, particularly for smaller employers. It seems likely that, as these MEPs accumulate assets, they will begin to be the target of the same sort of fiduciary litigation that has afflicted the single employer 401(k) plan community. In this introductory article…Read More
On July 22, 2019, the Department of Labor published a final regulation on the definition of “employer” under ERISA, intended to expand the sorts of organizations that may sponsor a “multiple employer plan.” In this article we briefly review the legal background and the final regulation. We then review DOL’s discussion, in the preamble to…Read More
On July 3, 2019, IRS proposed a regulation under which it would not apply its “one bad apple” rule – that a qualification failure of one employer in a multiple employer plan disqualifies the entire plan – if certain conditions are met. In this article we begin with a review of the current status of…Read More
On October 22, 2018, the Department of Labor released a proposed regulation that clarifies (and in some regards expands) rules for which groups may adopt multiemployer plans (MEPs) under ERISA. In this article we provide a brief note on the proposal. We begin with a discussion of the ERISAstatutory/regulatory issue that has made MEPs in…Read More
Possible retirement savings legislation in lame duck session On September 27, 2018, the House passed the Family Savings Act (FSA) (part of House Republicans’ Tax Reform 2.0 proposal), after making two significant retirement policy related changes to the bill approved by the Ways and Means Committee. There are several other significant retirement savings policy initiatives in…Read More
On September 10, 2018, House Republicans released their “Tax Reform 2.0” proposal, a package of three bills: the Family Savings Act of 2018 (H.R. 6757); the Protecting Family and Small Business Tax Cuts Act of 2018 (H.R. 6760); and the American Innovation Act of 2018 (H.R. 6756). The Family Savings Act (FSA) contains a number…Read More