DOL Issues
A panel at the Oct. 22 opening session of the 2023 ASPPA Annual Conference noted that there is legislation that would allow 403(b) plans to offer CITs and separate account insurance contracts as investment options.
Panel members were Brian Graff, American Retirement Association (ARA) CEO; Will...
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Editor’s Note: This is the second in a two-part series about service providers’ audits of clients and their plans. The first is here.
Audits may be a frightening and painful experience from the perspective of plan administrators and plan sponsors. But what does it look like from the auditor’s...
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One of the most important—yet confusing—tasks a public school district has when sponsoring a 403(b) plan is understanding its administrative responsibilities and the best practices used to serve as a good steward of these plans.
ERISA or Not?
When determining your organization’s responsibilities...
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Tech Talk discusses the circumstances under which a 403(b) plan may qualify for a safe harbor exemption and, therefore, not be subject to ERISA.
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Tech Talk discusses which agencies other than the Department of Labor and its Employee Benefits Security Administration have a role in regulating and overseeing 403(b) plans or investment options provided to participants.
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Social Security—often cited as a “third rail”—has been a staple of the retirement landscape for almost 90 years. But that doesn't mean that it’s free of misconceptions; in MarketBeat, John Iekel discusses a recent commentary that highlights some to avoid.
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The Department of Labor (DOL) sent a new version of a proposed fiduciary rule to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) late Sept. 8 for review.
Known officially as “Conflict of Interest in Investment Advice,” it would redefine fiduciary investment advice under ERISA.
According to a post on...
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The two top Republican lawmakers serving on the House and Senate committees with jurisdiction over ERISA have called on the Department of Labor (DOL) to halt any further changes to the definition of fiduciary.
The Aug. 31 letter from Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), who is chair of the House Education...
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Fifty retirement-related organizations sent a letter to the Treasury Department and specifically the IRS on July 19 requesting “transition relief” for Section 603 under the SECURE 2.0 Act.
The signers—representing advocacy organizations (including the American Retirement Association), large...
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After months of speculation, the Department of Labor’s (DOL) newly released Spring 2023 regulatory agenda confirms that a fiduciary rule rewrite could be released later this summer; it also provides other key insight for the department’s regulatory plans for the coming months.
In fact, the fall...
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In its quest to set every community up for retirement enhancement, SECURE 2.0 enhanced the long-term part-time (LTPT) rules of SECURE 1.0 by making them applicable to 403(b) plans. Since employees are more likely to contribute to an employer-sponsored retirement arrangement than an Individual...
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A federal judge has dismissed a multi-billion plan fiduciary's motion to dismiss an excessive fee/fiduciary breach suit.
The defendants in this case—filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in early 2021—are the fiduciaries of the Magna Group of Companies Retirement...
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The recent 2023 NTSA Summit provided a unique opportunity to connect and also to gain from the insights of industry experts. Following is a quick rundown of our coverage of the event.
NTSA Leadership
Stubbs Takes the Helm as 2023 NTSA President https://www.ntsa-net.org/news-resources/stubbs-...
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Tech Talk concerns whether a K-12 public school can elect whether to have an ERISA or non-ERISA 403(b).
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Following a United States Supreme Court directive, a federal court has reconsidered its earlier conclusions in an excessive fee case.
Now, it’s been awhile, but you may recall that the case[1] (April Hughes et al. v. Northwestern University) had been dismissed by this same Seventh Circuit back in...
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The Department of Labor (DOL) in its budget proposal for fiscal year 2024 seeks funding to fuel new initiatives to make sure lost benefits go to those to whom they belong.
The DOL seeks $5 million in FY 2024 to establish a program for ensuring that missing participants receive the benefits to...
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The parties in one of the first university 403(b) excessive fee suits—by participant-plaintiffs represented by the Schlichter law firm—have unveiled the terms of a big settlement.
The suit, filed way back in August 2016, involved two plans sponsored by the University of Southern California (the...
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The White House has announced that Julie Su will be nominated to serve as Secretary of Labor, replacing Marty Walsh who recently announced his intention to step down to take a position with the NHL Players Association.
Su has been serving as Deputy Labor Secretary — the No. 2 post at the...
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Does a plan sponsor violate a duty of loyalty when considering retirement plan participant preferences?
Here’s what Tim Hauser, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Program Operations of the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), had to say.
“We added a provision that expressly says the...
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In the inaugural episode of the DC Pension Geeks podcast, American Retirement Association CEO Brian Graff sits down with Lisa Gomez, the Department of Labor's Assistant Secretary for the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA).
In her first major interview since her confirmation, Gomez...
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