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Proposed Settlement Agreement Reached in Actuarial Equivalence Lawsuit

Earlier this month, a group of retired employees of Citgo Petroleum Corporation filed a motion for settlement of their lawsuit claiming they were harmed by their pension plan’s use of unreasonable actuarial assumptions. The...more

2022 Retirement Plan Year-End Amendments and Operational Compliance

As the end of 2022 approaches, it’s again time for plan sponsors to review their plan documents and plan operations to ensure compliance with increasingly complex qualification requirements and moving deadlines. While there...more

The IRS’s New Pre-Examination Pilot Program – Key Features and Questions

Earlier this month, the IRS announced a new pilot program under which retirement plan sponsors will be given 90-days notice that their plan has been selected for examination which they may be able to largely avoid by taking...more

Court Extends Anticutback Protection to Post-Normal Retirement Age Pension Distributions

A recent district court decision improperly (in our view) restricts the ability of plan sponsors to modify participant distribution elections after normal retirement age. We describe the decision, and offer some...more

One Actuarial Equivalence Lawsuit Bites the Dust, Another Lives to Fight Another Day

On March 4, 2022, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts dismissed a putative class action alleging that a plan used outdated, and therefore unreasonable, actuarial assumptions when making benefits...more

2021 Retirement Plan Year-End Amendments and Operational Compliance

As we approach the end of 2021, it’s again time for sponsors of 401(a) and 403(b) plans to review their plan documents and plan operations to ensure compliance with increasingly complex qualification requirements. While...more

2022 Round Up of Benefit and Contribution Limits

The IRS recently announced (Notice 2021-61, Nov. 4, 2021) that many of the key pension limits will increase next year – some significantly due to higher inflation. The Social Security Administration and PBGC also recently...more

IRS Makes Helpful Changes to EPCRS and Modifies Anonymous Submission Process

On July 16, 2021, IRS issued a new version of the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (“EPCRS”), set forth in Revenue Procedure 2021-30. The new EPCRS provides qualified plan sponsors with the opportunity to correct...more

Actuarial Equivalence Lawsuits: Plaintiffs May Defeat Motions to Dismiss, But Can They Win Class Cert?

Since 2019, plaintiffs’ counsel has filed just over a dozen class action lawsuits against plan sponsors and fiduciaries alleging that the plans use “unreasonable” actuarial equivalence factors, primarily “outdated” mortality...more

DOL Issues Missing Participants Guidance

On January 12, 2021, the Department of Labor (the “DOL”) issued three pieces of guidance detailing the DOL’s view of what steps plan fiduciaries should take to locate and distribute retirement benefits to missing or...more

IRS Issues Final Regulations Updating Minimum Required Distribution Rules

On November 5, 2020, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) released final regulations under section 401(a)(9) of the Internal Revenue Code (“IRC”). 85 Fed. Reg. 72472 (Nov. 12, 2020). The final regulations, which closely...more

IRS and PBGC Give Sponsors Until January 4, 2021 to Make Contributions Under the CARES Act

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”) passed earlier this year delayed the due date of quarterly and final contributions otherwise due in calendar year 2020 to January 1, 2021. But because...more

The IRS Provides Relief for Mid-Year Reductions in Employer Contributions to Safe Harbor Plans

On June 29, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) issued Notice 2020-52, which provides guidance and temporary relief for employers who may choose to reduce contributions during 2020 to their safe harbor 401(k) or 403(b) plan....more

IRS Guidance on 2020 Required Minimum Distribution Waivers and More

On June 23, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) issued Notice 2020-51, which provides much-needed guidance on how defined contribution plans (including 403(b) and governmental 457(b) plans) and IRAs implement the waiver of...more

IRS Issues Anticipated CARES Act Guidance On Plan Loans and Distributions

On June 19, 2020, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) issued Notice 2020-50, which provides clarity to plan administrators and participants on coronavirus-related loans and distributions following the passage of the...more

IRS Determination Letter Program: Upcoming Deadlines and Recent Developments

The retirement plan community got a shock five years ago when the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) dramatically cut back its 60-year-old program of providing employers with the comfort of a determination letter on the tax...more

Big Win for Employer in Actuarial Equivalence Case – Class Certification Denied

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas dealt a major blow to the putative class action Torres v. American Airlines, Inc., finding that the four named plaintiffs are not adequate class representatives for...more

IRS Allows Remote Notarization of Participant Elections for 2020

On June 3, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) issued Notice 2020-42 to provide temporary relief for certain participant elections required to be witnessed in the “physical presence” of a plan representative or notary...more

IRS Extends More Pension Deadlines For COVID-19

IRS Notice 2020-35 is a follow-on to Notice 2020-23 that provided for a wide range of pension filings and actions that were otherwise due between April 1 and July 14, 2020 that were extended until July 15, 2020. ...more

First Look: IRS Answers Frequently Asked Questions on CARES Act Retirement Provisions

Plan sponsors, service providers and plan participants have been eagerly awaiting guidance on the new Coronavirus Relief Distribution (CRD) and loan provisions that were added by Section 2202 of the CARES Act. Limited...more

CARES Act Brings Immediate Changes for 401(k) Plans

Effective March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”) brings immediate changes and relief to 401(k) plans, similar to natural disaster relief issued in the past. ...more

Senate Passes Massive Stimulus Bill

On Wednesday, March 25, 2020, the Senate passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (H.R. 748, the “CARES Act” or “the Act”). The Act is the largest economic stimulus bill in American history and provides...more

IRS Extends Income Tax Return Payments (but Not Retirement-Related Deadlines)

The IRS issuance of Notice 2020-17 is important first step into providing COVID-19 specific relief under Code section 7508A, which permits (but does not require) Treasury to postpone various deadlines under the Code for...more

Coronavirus Check-Up for Retirement Plans

The last two weeks have seen dramatic changes for communities and businesses as COVID-19 has spread to all parts of the world. Significant disruptions for businesses and individuals have become necessary as we work together...more

Court Challenges to DB Plan Actuarial Assumptions – One Year Later

Eleven cases have been filed against defined benefit pension plan sponsors and certain fiduciaries alleging that the plan’s assumptions—called “actuarial equivalence factors” or “actuarial equivalence assumptions”— for...more

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