On July 8, 2020, the IRS published the latest version of its Operational Compliance List (“OCL”). The OCL is intended to help retirement plan sponsors and practitioners achieve operational compliance (i.e. ensure consistency between plan administration and the governing plan document), by identifying changes in plan qualification requirements that became effective during a calendar year. […]
The IRS has issued three new pieces of guidance for retirement plan sponsors, as a result of COVID-19. First, the IRS issued Notice 2020-50 (“2020-50”) on June 19, 2020. 2020-50 expands on the distribution and loan provisions set forth in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”), which was enacted on […]
On June 30, 2020, the DOL published a proposed regulation amending its existing ‘‘investment duties” regulation. That “investment duties” regulation deals with duties imposed upon ERISA plan fiduciaries in connection with their investment of plan assets. The proposed regulation specifically addresses the growing practice of selecting plan assets because of the non-pecuniary benefits they may […]
On June 29, 2020, the DOL published two pieces of guidance addressing investment advice that is provided to retirement plan participants and IRA owners. First, the DOL issued a proposed prohibited transaction class exemption. As background, ERISA’s and the Code’s prohibited transaction rules generally prohibit fiduciaries that provide investment advice to employee benefit plans and […]
On May 27, 2020, the DOL published a final regulation addressing the electronic disclosure of certain documents required to be provided to participants and beneficiaries of ERISA-covered retirement plans. The regulation stems from President Trump’s Executive Order 13847, issued on August 31, 2018. That Executive Order directed the DOL to review whether regulatory or other […]
As a result of COVID-19’s disruption to the U.S. economy and to many plan sponsors’ business operations, the IRS and DOL recently published several pieces of guidance providing a wide array of relief to retirement plan sponsors. First, on April 29, 2020, the DOL published Disaster Relief Notice 2020-01 (the “Notice”). The Notice applies to the […]
Given the continuing wave of ERISA litigation, this article has become a mainstay of The Speed Reader. A sample of recent cases is provided below. The most common type of ERISA case for approximately the past fourteen years has involved retirement plan participants’ allegations that plan fiduciaries caused participants to pay excessive record keeping and […]
On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”) became law. The CARES Act provides widespread relief to employers and employees via tax credits and other approaches (e.g., extended tax due dates). This article focuses on provisions affecting retirement plans COVID-19 Distributions: The 10% penalty tax under Internal Revenue […]
As a result of COVID-19, on March 27 the IRS made two important announcements for certain retirement plan sponsors. First, the IRS extended the last day of the initial remedial amendment period for 403(b) plans from March 31, 2020 to June 30, 2020. As a result, plan sponsors now have until June 30, 2020 to […]
In addition to the law and IRS guidance discussed above, sponsors of defined contribution retirement plans may wish to consider the impact of COVID-19 on their plans with respect to the following: Reducing or Suspending Employer Contributions: If a plan provides for discretionary employer contributions, although no plan amendment is necessary to reduce or suspend […]