DOL Issues
The Department of Labor is working on a guidance package addressing cybersecurity issues as they relate to plan sponsors and third-party providers, a key official said Oct. 28.
Addressing SPARK’s Cybersecurity Virtual Event, Tim Hauser, Deputy Assistant Secretary for National Office Operations...
READ MORE
Total monetary recoveries by the Department of Labor’s Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) enforcement and oversight activity in fiscal year 2020 apparently hit a record.
According to an annual fact sheet released by the agency, EBSA recovered more than $3.1 billion in direct...
READ MORE
The final rule on ESG investing by ERISA plans steps away from the proposed rule’s focus on ESG.
Indeed, the Department of Labor (DOL) notes that “unlike the proposal, the final rule’s operative text contains no specific references to ESG or ESG-themed funds.”
Rather, acknowledging the fluid...
READ MORE
Release of the Department of Labor’s final rule addressing environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in selecting plan investments appears to be imminent.
Following a 30-day comment window that ended July 30 and more than 8,000 comment letters, the DOL on Oct. 14 submitted a final rule,...
READ MORE
In MarketBeat, Nevin E. Adams, J.D. discusses what a plan fiduciary is to do in a year in which we’ve seen a spate of litigation against retirement programs.
READ MORE
In response to the Department of Labor’s proposed rule addressing fiduciary duties concerning proxy voting, the Plan Sponsor Council of America says that its “primary concern” is that it is “not needed.”
“Existing guidance regarding fiduciaries’ duties relating to securities held in portfolios of...
READ MORE
Effective Sept. 28, the Department of Labor (DOL) began following the Promoting Regulatory Openness through Good Guidance Rule, a measure that requires that it use guidance appropriately, transparently and in a manner that is accessible to the public.
The rule implements Executive Order 13891, “...
READ MORE
After “hard-fought litigation and months of arm’s length negotiations,” the settlement terms of an excessive fee suit that had resolved most issues in favor of the fiduciary defendants have come to light.
The Cornell University defendants had successfully fended off most of the claims a year ago...
READ MORE
A month ago, the Labor Department unveiled an interim final rule on lifetime income disclosures on participant statements. Today the window for comments opens.
Under the Interim Final Rule, retirement plans would provide lifetime income illustrations using prescribed assumptions designed, the DOL...
READ MORE
415 Notice: This requirement is not new but became the responsibility of the employer (or the TPA) beginning in 2009. This is a required notice describing the effect on an employee if they also “control” another business and have a retirement plan for that business in addition to participating in...
READ MORE
The Department of Labor (DOL) heard from an array of witnesses on its proposed fiduciary advice rulemaking package—ranging from calls to withdraw the proposal altogether, to making significant changes before proceeding.
The DOL’s Sept. 3 hearing focused on its proposed advice package, “...
READ MORE
The Department of Labor (DOL) proposed a proxy voting rule Aug. 31 that says fiduciaries should “refrain from spending workers’ retirement savings to research and vote on matters that are not expected to have an economic impact on the plan.”
The proposed regulation—issued with a goal of...
READ MORE
Late on the afternoon of Aug. 21, the Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) announced that it will hold a public hearing on its new fiduciary rule proposal.
Specifically, the notice, which is expected to be published in the Aug. 25 Federal Register, is being held “to consider issues...
READ MORE
In the latest of a series of regulatory announcements, updates and proposals, the Department of Labor (DOL) has unveiled an Interim Final Rule on lifetime income disclosures under the SECURE Act.
Under the Interim Final Rule, retirement plans would provide lifetime income illustrations using...
READ MORE
It seems that the Department of Labor (DOL) is doubling down on its ESG information request campaign, now looking to the practices behind investments in, and monitoring of, ESG-themed ERISA plan investments by Registered Investment Advisory (RIA) firms.
Earlier this year information requests...
READ MORE
If you thought the battles over fiduciary rulemaking were over, think again. Top Democrats from the House and Senate committees that oversee ERISA-based issues are calling on the Department of Labor to withdraw its investment advice package and start over.
In an Aug. 6 letter to Labor...
READ MORE
We’ve only just passed the effective date for the new e-delivery rules—but the campaign to undermine their impact is already underway.
Coincident with the official effective date of the new rules, the Pension Rights Center, a pension advocacy group, has just unveiled an “Ask for Paper” campaign...
READ MORE
Under the final rule on electronic disclosures the Department of Labor (DOL) issued in May 2020, the same ERISA fiduciary obligations that apply when changing recordkeepers responsible for furnishing paper disclosures will apply when changing recordkeepers responsible for furnishing electronic...
READ MORE
Fiduciary status is based on your responsibilities with the plan, not your title. If you have discretion in administering and managing the plan, or if you control the plan’s assets (such as choosing the investment options or choosing the firm that chooses those options), you are a fiduciary to the...
READ MORE
There is still a lot of 2020 left to go. But 2021 is fast approaching, and a July 22 Plan Sponsor Council of America (PSCA) webcast offered ideas on how to prepare for that.
In “Year-End Checklist: COVID-19 issues and Preparing for 2021,” three Winston & Strawn LLP attorneys—Ariane Andrade, an...
READ MORE
Pages
Most Popular
