By Greg Daugherty and Rich Helmreich on ESOPs are increasingly a popular succession planning vehicle, and well they should be. When formed properly, an ESOP transaction preserves the legacy of the business that an owner helped create, while providing tax and financial benefits to the former business owner, the company and the employees.… Continue Reading
By Greg Daugherty and Rich Helmreich on In what some commentators are describing as the latest volley in a game of regulatory ping-pong, the Department of Labor (DOL) published proposed regulations that would change the way an ERISA fiduciary should consider environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues and related proxy voting decisions with respect to plan investments (the proposed regulations). The proposed … Continue Reading
By Greg Daugherty and Rich Helmreich on Employers who sponsor 401(k) plans and other defined contribution plans in which participants may direct the investments of their accounts now have a deadline to provide lifetime income illustrations in those plans’ benefit statements. The Department of Labor (DOL) recently published guidance addressing these requirements. While helpful, the guidance is still subject to change in … Continue Reading
By Rich Helmreich and Greg Daugherty on The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently announced new guidance for plan sponsors, fiduciaries, record keepers and participants on best practices for maintaining cyber security. This is the first time the DOL has issued such guidance, and it comes in response to a recent General Accounting Office (GAO) report responding to increased cybersecurity risks to retirement plan … Continue Reading
By Victoria Hanohano-Hong and Deb Boiarsky on On Oct. 23, 2019, the Department of Labor (DOL) released a proposed rule for electronic delivery of ERISA disclosures. Although the DOL already allows for electronic delivery under the 2002 Electronic Safe Harbor, its availability is limited and technology quickly outpaced its usefulness. The proposed rule creates a new, additional safe harbor the DOL calls … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on In February, we reported that the Department of Labor (DOL) issued a proposed rule that could make it easier for small businesses to join together to purchase health insurance. That proposed rule sparked considerable debate on the general merits of association health plans (AHPs), as well as on the nuances of the proposed rule. Some … Continue Reading
By Greg Daugherty on The IRS’s Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division recently issued a memorandum (the memo) to its auditors that directed them not to challenge a 403(b) plan as failing to satisfy the required minimum distribution (RMD) standards under circumstances set out in the memo. This guidance is helpful to 403(b) plan sponsors and consistent with missing … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on On Jan. 5, 2018, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued a proposed rule that would make it easier for small businesses to join together to purchase health insurance. This is not a completely new concept. Unrelated small employers can join together to purchase health insurance today. Under current guidance, however, these types of plans are … Continue Reading
By Greg Daugherty on In recent years, the Department of Labor (DOL) has had a laser-like focus on valuation issues when privately held companies establish employee stock ownership plans (ESOP). In particular, the DOL is concerned with valuations that rely upon unrealistic growth projections, which lead to the ESOP paying too much (in the DOL’s view) for the shares … Continue Reading
By Greg Daugherty on While the fiduciary rule has received most of the attention in the world of ERISA as of late, a lesser known regulation that was finalized late last year also may require action by plan sponsors. This regulation , issued by the Department of Labor (DOL) in December 2016, requires applicable plans to satisfy additional procedural … Continue Reading
By Greg Daugherty on One question that has been on the minds of plan sponsors is how aggressive the Department of Labor (DOL) under President Trump will be compared to that of President Obama. In recent years, the DOL made a priority of investigating ERISA fiduciary issues, with a particular focus on employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs). After the … Continue Reading
By Greg Daugherty and Porter Wright on If you’re a fan of the tv show “The Simpsons,” you might remember an early episode where Homer Simpson launched a crusade against every public safety issue in the city. The result was practically every square inch of the town contained signs alerting people to every dip, pothole, and other nuisance on the roads. After … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on The Department of Labor (“DOL”) has sued an insurance brokerage firm, and its owner, for allegedly breaching fiduciary duties associated with purchasing an annuity contract for a terminating defined benefit plan. The complaint alleges that in 2003, the firm entered into an agreement to function as an ERISA fiduciary with respect to the purchase, for a … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on The quickly approaching deadline for written fee disclosures by covered service providers creates new homework for plan sponsors–in the form of enhanced fiduciary review obligations and a suggested need to review (and/or create) written service agreements. By now folks who work in the tax-qualified retirement industry are well (and perhaps painfully) aware that the United … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on The United States Department of Labor (the "DOL") last week withdrew a proposed regulation that would have expanded the definition of "fiduciary" under ERISA in the context of retirement plans. (See our recent post that announced that withdrawal.) The regulation project was based on a belief that the old regulations defining the term, which originally were issued in 1975, were inadequate in today's marketplace (a contention that seemingly drew little opposition in the abstract). … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on The Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) has put the brakes on its proposed rule on the definition of a fiduciary, which was slated to become final in the near future. EBSA's goal for the regulatory change was to ensure that potential conflicts of interest among financial advisors would not compromise the quality of investment advice to individuals.… Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on This time of year, many employers are struggling to satisfy the independent auditors of their employee benefit plans so that they can obtain opinions and file their Forms 5500 on time. For a calendar year plan that filed a Form 5558 extension, the deadline is generally October 15 (but is October 17 this year, given that the 15th is a Saturday). As the deadline nears, employers may also encounter problems with electronic filing (now in its second year) and with getting answers to their questions regarding the filing. The potential penalties for failure to timely file a Form 5500 are substantial. … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on The Department of Labor (“DOL”) has published Frequently Asked Questions describing the scope of the anti-abuse rule (available here). Generally, transferring employees from one grandfathered plan or benefit package (transferor plan) to another (transferee plan) will cause the transferee plan to relinquish grandfather status if amending the transferor plan to replicate the terms of the transferee … Continue Reading
By Porter Wright on Plan fiduciaries generally understand that they have certain duties related to plan investments and service provider fees. Court decisions over the years have shed some light on these duties. Fiduciaries should already be doing the following to satisfy their fiduciary duties: 1. Obtain some measure of expertise in plan investments. Lacking expertise, a fiduciary should … Continue Reading
By Greg Daugherty on The United States Department of Labor (“the DOL”) has challenged the dismissal of a 401(k) plan fiduciary breach claim on two grounds, in an amicus brief filed with the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, See Pfeil v. State Street Bank & Trust Co., E. D. Mich. No. 09CV12229; (Brief available here). One argument the DOL … Continue Reading
