Fiduciary Rules and Practices

Concluding that “courts sometimes make standing law more complicated than it needs to be,” in a 5-4 decision, the nation’s highest court has ruled that plaintiffs in a suit involving a defined benefit plan hadn’t incurred the loss of benefits necessary to establish the right to bring suit.   More... READ MORE

Technically, it is the plan sponsor (or employer) who has the responsibility for the actual day-to-day administrative functions of the 403(b) plan, or for choosing the plan administrator, called a TPA (third party administrator).   Even with a TPA, the employer will always be the one that can be... READ MORE

The Department of Labor’s 2012 final rule to improve transparency of fees and expenses provides plan administrators protection from liability for the completeness and accuracy of information provided to participants as long as the plan administrator reasonably and in good faith relies upon... READ MORE

The Labor Department wants you (and your clients) to stop including Personal Identifiable Information (PII) on Form 5500 filings. Scott C. Albert, QPA, Chief of the DOL’s Division of Reporting Compliance, explains that the agency makes the information in Forms 5500/5500-SF available to the public... READ MORE

ERISA does not require fiduciary liability insurance, as it does fidelity bonds. Nonetheless, it is important to pay careful attention to fiduciary liability coverage.    Ordinarily, those covered by fiduciary liability insurance are:   the plan; the plan sponsor; executives; board members... READ MORE

Another excessive fee suit has been filed against a billion dollar university 403(b) plan, though it treads familiar ground(s).    The latest (Santiago v. Univ. of Miami, S.D. Fla., No. 1:20-cv-21784, complaint filed 4/29/20) was brought by plaintiffs Augustino Santiago, Lilly Leyva, Guillermo... READ MORE

In MarketBeat, Maria Hurd writes about the required minimum distribution rules under the SECURE Act and how they affect financial statement audits. READ MORE

Recent guidance clarifies that retirement contributions for unincorporated sole proprietors are excluded from payroll costs in calculating the maximum loan amount under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)—and so can’t be forgiven under the terms of that program. Specifically, the Small Business... READ MORE

Citing the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic, the Garden State has extended the deadline for considering its proposed fiduciary rule.    New Jersey’s proposed new uniform fiduciary standard was issued April 15, 2019, but under the state’s statutory deadline, the proposal would have expired if... READ MORE