Seyfarth Synopsis: It’s here for your post-Thanksgiving turkey hangover reading pleasure! The Department of Treasury and IRS released on Friday (in the middle of most people’s long holiday weekend) their proposed rules for...more
11/29/2023
/ 401k ,
Eligibility Determination ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employees ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Part-Time Employees ,
Proposed Rules ,
Retirement Plan ,
Safe Harbors ,
SECURE Act ,
U.S. Treasury
By this point, most people in the employee benefits space have heard about the MOVEit and Retirement Clearing House (RCH) cyber incidents, which could directly impact employers’ benefit plans. The MOVEit file transfer...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The SECURE Act, passed just before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic at the end of 2019, significantly altered the retirement plan landscape. For a reminder on how the SECURE Act changed the retirement...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Reminiscent of the DOL’s about-face on ESG investing by ERISA fiduciaries [discussed here], this week the DOL has issued a “supplemental statement” on its view of the use of private equity investments in...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: In mid-December 2020, after a truncated comment period and without public hearings, the US Department of Labor (DOL) finalized its proposed regulations on a fiduciary’s responsibilities when exercising...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: DOL final regulation on fiduciary implications of investing in ESG under review by the Biden administration....more
On December 20th, before the outbreak of COVID-19 and the resulting pandemic, President Trump signed into law the Setting Every Community Up For Retirement Enhancement Act of 2019 (the “SECURE Act”) and the Bipartisan...more
9/10/2020
/ Automatic Enrollment ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Distribution Rules ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Individual Retirement Account (IRA) ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Mining ,
Popular ,
Retirement Plan ,
SECURE Act ,
Tax Credits ,
Tax Planning ,
Vesting
Seyfarth Synopsis: As discussed in more detail in our prior blog post, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act ("CARES Act") provided certain relief to defined contribution plan participants, provided they were...more
After a long process, which stretched on for over a decade, on May 27, 2020, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) published final regulations regarding the electronic delivery of required disclosures under the Employee Retirement...more
On May 12, the IRS released Notices 2020-29 and 2020-33, which collectively provide various forms of relief under the existing IRC Section 125/129 rules in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. ...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Several deadlines established by the IRS to adopt amendments or restatements to employer-sponsored retirement plans, and in this instance specifically, to 403(b) plans maintained by tax-exempt entities and...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: As we have been raising in our series of blog posts and Legal Updates, the impact of the coronavirus is far-reaching, and there are a number of concerns relating to employer-sponsored retirement plans to...more
For several years now we’ve been keeping you updated on the long and winding road of the Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) Fiduciary Rule....more
6/26/2018
/ Best Interest Contract Exemptions ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Consumer Financial Products ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Management ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Retirement Plan ,
Vacated
On May 7, 2018, the Department of Labor (the “DOL”) issued a temporary non-enforcement policy regarding its investment advice fiduciary regulation (the “Fiduciary Rule”) in Field Assistance Bulletin 2018-02. This guidance was...more
5/9/2018
/ Best Interest Contract Exemptions ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Fiduciary Duty ,
Fiduciary Rule ,
Field Assistance Bulletins ,
Financial Services Industry ,
Investment Adviser ,
Investment Management ,
Retirement Plan
The Department of Labor’s new regulations governing disability claims and appeals published on December 19, 2016 will go into effect on April 1, 2018, as announced by the DOL on January 5, 2018.
...more
1/10/2018
/ Administrative Appeals ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Claim Procedures ,
Denial of Benefits ,
Department of Labor (DOL) ,
Disability Benefits ,
Employee Benefits ,
Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) ,
Final Rules ,
Plan Administrators ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Retirement Plan
This is the fourth issue in a planned series of alerts designed to provide an in-depth analysis on topics related to tax reform. This Tax Reform Management Alert issue focuses on executive compensation and employee benefits...more
12/21/2017
/ Compensation & Benefits ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Employee Benefits ,
Executive Compensation ,
Fringe Benefits ,
Hardship Distributions ,
Income Taxes ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Pending Legislation ,
Retirement Plan ,
Section 162(m) ,
Tax Deductions ,
Tax Rates ,
Tax Reform ,
Trump Administration
This is the second issue in a planned series of alerts for employers on selected topics on tax reform. The series of Tax Reform Management Alerts is designed to provide an in-depth analysis of executive compensation and...more
12/11/2017
/ Compensation & Benefits ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Deferred Compensation ,
Executive Compensation ,
Fringe Benefits ,
Hardship Distributions ,
Income Taxes ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Retirement Plan ,
Section 162(m) ,
Tax Deductions ,
Tax Rates ,
Tax Reform ,
Trump Administration
This is the first issue in a planned series of alerts for employers on selected topics on tax reform. The series of Tax Reform Management Alerts is designed to provide an in-depth analysis of executive compensation and...more
11/27/2017
/ Compensation & Benefits ,
Deferred Compensation ,
Employee Benefits ,
Executive Compensation ,
Individual Mandate ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Medical Expenses ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Retirement Plan ,
Section 162(m) ,
Tax Deductions ,
Tax Rates ,
Tax Reform ,
Trump Administration
On April 4, 2017, the Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued a final rule extending by 60 days the applicability date of the final “fiduciary” regulation published a year ago (known colloquially as the “Fiduciary Rule”)....more
Certain employee benefit plans, including qualified retirement plans, must file an annual return/report on Form 5500 with the Department of Labor, which is shared with the IRS. Each year discreet changes are typically made...more