Award season has begun and Hollywood is all a buzz with who won Golden Globes and the anticipation for the Academy Awards next month.  One star-studded contender, The Irishman, has a chance to make history by being the first film predominantly viewed on the streaming service NetFlix, instead of cinemas, to win an Oscar.  The Irishman has a lot of Hollywood clout behind it being directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Robert De Niro, Al…

Who says Congress is too busy with impeachment to legislate. Last week, the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement (SECURE) Act was enacted as part of the 2020 Appropriations Legislation that had to be enacted to prevent a government shut down. The President signed the legislation on December 20, 2019. SECURE contains a number of welcomed changes to retirement plan laws. SECURE had previously passed the House by a vote of 417-3 last Summer…

Just before Thanksgiving the United States Supreme Court decided not to hear the appeal of the plaintiff in Teets v. Great-West Life & Annuity Ins. Co., (U.S., No. 19-382, certiorari denied 11/25/190).  The issue in the case was whether Great-West entered into a prohibited transaction when contracting with plans to permit participants to invest their accounts in Great-West’s guaranteed rate fund that provided a guaranteed rate of return for assets invested.  Great-West had the discretion  to…

The now conservative majority U.S. Supreme Court will hear three ERISA cases this term and decide issues involving the right to sue under ERISA.  The Intel case deals with the statute of limitations for bringing a breach of fiduciary duty claim under ERISA.  The Thole case involves whether participants in a fully funded defined benefit plan can sue for breach of fiduciary duty when there was no apparent effect on their benefits.  And the Jander…

The Justice Department has submitted a Statement of Interest in the litigation, Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association et al v. CA Secure Choice Retirement Savings Program, challenging California’s CalSavers mandated payroll deduction IRA program, as preempted by ERISA.  The Department previously asked the District court to refrain from ruling on the pending motion to dismiss until it decided whether to participate.  See U.S. Asks California Court to Delay CalSavers Decision Again.  The Department filed the Statement on September…

As previously reported, the U.S. Department of Justice asked the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California not to decide whether to dismiss the lawsuit by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association maintaining that the CalSavers retirement program is preempted by ERISA until the Department decides whether to participate in the lawsuit on behalf of the United States.  In its August 2, 2019 filing the Department indicated that it would give the court…

Just a brief post to let you know that I will be presenting a webinar for the Western Pension and Benefits Council Governing Board titled Voluntary Closing Agreements–The Non-EPCRS Correction Program on August 21 at 10 am PST.  I will discuss fixing plan issues that do not qualify for correction under the Employee Plans Correction Resolution System (EPCRS) through the Employee Plans Voluntary Closing Agreement Program, including the advantages and disadvantages of closing agreements.  I will…