Technical Competence
The House Education and the Workforce Committee on July 19 will markup the Affordable Retirement Advice for Savers Act, a bill that would repeal the Department of Labor’s (DOL) fiduciary rule.In a committee press release announcing the markup, Chair Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) noted that the bill...
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The good news is that the funding level of that critical financial underpinning of the nation’s retirement security didn’t decrease during the past year.On the other hand — and the bad news in the report from the Social Security Board of Trustees — is that the combined asset reserves of the Old-Age...
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The Department of Labor’s (DOL) recent request for information (RFI) about the fiduciary regulation indicate the issues of greatest interest to the DOL. Fred Reish looks at two issues concerning the Best Interest Contract Exemption (BICE) in that RFI. In a recent (54th, but who’s counting) blog...
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Employers offering 457 plans demonstrate a great degree of positivity about the plans and about their role in helping employees prepare for retirement, according to a recent study.In its recent survey of 457 plan sponsors, American Century Investments sought information about perceptions of their...
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Witnesses at a House Financial Services subcommittee hearing July 13 largely offered their support for legislation to repeal the current DOL fiduciary rule and direct the Securities and Exchange Commission to take the lead in regulating the standards of care for investment advice.Of the five...
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“It is important that the Commission make all reasonable efforts to bring clarity and consistency” to “standards of conduct that investment professionals must follow in providing advice to Main Street investors,” Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Jay Clayton said on July 12. He made...
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Yet another piece of legislation is being readied to repeal the fiduciary regulation.This particular bill has been crafted by Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO), no stranger to legislative efforts to roll back the fiduciary regulation. She introduced legislation to repeal the fiduciary regulation in 2015. The...
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The National Tax-deferred Savings Association (NTSA) and the American Retirement Association (ARA) on July 7 filed a comment letter with the Board of Trustees of the Texas Teacher Retirement System (TRS) about its proposed rule concerning companies that offer voluntary 403(b) investment options to...
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Can a participant who retires and rolls over funds into a 457 deferred compensation plan account request funds from the amount rolled over? In Tech Talk, we discuss the matter.
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All employees of an eligible employer must have the opportunity to make pre-tax deferrals (or, if the plan permits, Roth 403(b) contributions) to such an employer’s 403(b) plan, with only a few limited exceptions. In MarketBeat, Linda Segal Blinn discusses the universal availability rules under the...
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Another “mega” university 403(b) plan finds itself in the excessive fee crosshairs of a participant-plaintiff suit. The latest is a suit (Short v. Brown Univ., D.R.I., No. 1:17-cv-00318, complaint filed 7/6/17) brought by three participants individually and as representatives of a class of...
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The last word one would associate with the Department of Labor’s (DOL) fiduciary rule is “dispassionate.” But that accurately describes a new report by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) concerning the rule.The Congressional Research Service, known as Congress' think tank, is a public policy...
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The IRS has issued an updated version of its Form 14581-E, “Retirement Plan Coverage Compliance Self-Assessment For State and Local Government Entities.” The form is for use by systems that offer 403(b) and 457(b) plans, as well as other benefits.Form 14581 asks those offering 403(b) and 457(b)...
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The Department of Labor (DOL) may be reviewing the impact of the fiduciary rule, but they’d still like the court to dismiss challenges to it. On July 3, the DOL urged the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit to (mostly) uphold the fiduciary regulation, saying that the plaintiffs in the case...
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The comment period on the fiduciary rule request for information (RFI) is short — and it started July 6.The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employee Benefit Security Administration (EBSA) announced that it would publish its request for information on the fiduciary rule in the Federal Register on...
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July is here. Obvious, but important for DB plans, DC plans and 403(b) annuity arrangements with calendar year plan years to keep that in mind, since that means the July 31 Form 5500 filing deadline for the 2016 plan year is not far off. The form must be filed by the end of the seventh month after...
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Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy (D) has signed HB 7161, a measure requiring disclosures by 403(b) plan administrators in Connecticut, into law. Beginning Oct. 1, 2017, administrators of 403(b) plans run by political subdivisions in the Nutmeg State will have to disclose to the plan's fiduciary any...
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The IRS has made some changes to how it deals with pre-approved plans, hoping to encourage employers to switch from individually designed plans to the pre-approved format.In Revenue Procedure (Rev. Proc.) 2017-41, the IRS on June 30 set forth procedures for issuing opinion letters on the...
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Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Jay Clayton says that his agency must work with the Department of Labor (DOL) on the fiduciary rule. He made his comments during a June 27 appearance before the Senate Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee to present the SEC’s fiscal year...
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The Department of Labor (DOL) has issued its request for comments on a potential delay in the Jan. 1, 2018, applicability date of certain provisions of the fiduciary regulation — but it’s a short window.Specifically, the Request for Information (RFI) — which had been submitted to the Office of...
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